To Be Clipped
by Somewhat Sentient
Summary: Nudge had never been seen as mature.  So she'd never wanted to be.  But when she falls in love with Seth, who has been through the same thing as her, will she finally grow out of her old ways?  The entire Flock will learned what it is to be clipped.
1. Constriction

Seth

It wasn't the smell of the buttery popcorn which excited me, the taste of soda hanging like a fog on the air. It was the hint of blood which lingered on the edge of my tongue, which caused me to convulse and unleash a side I hated. The blood was taunting me, begging me unfairly to jump out and take it all, when I knew I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that without doing what they wanted. What the ringmaster wanted. A growl escaped my lips, and I recoiled in shock. This couldn't be good. I wasn't supposed to give in - I was supposed to stay strong. The blood coming from the stands, from the paper cut of a small child, I didn't want that. I didn't want to track it down and hunt it with precision. I didn't want to.

But I had to.

It wasn't the smell which made me go completely crazy at first. It was the sight of all the neon lights as I was released from my cage. Everything around me buzzed with noise, gave me an instant headache. I was unconsciously down on all fours, just as I had been when confined. Lifting my body slightly, I felt so unnatural. Nothing felt right to me. It wasn't right to be standing up like a man or down like an animal. I wasn't either any more. I didn't know what aroused me, but I felt a chill all through my spine. My head blazed with pictures of the blood, my mouth watering. When had been the last time I was fed? I hadn't hunted myself, so they didn't feed me. The ringmaster taught us like that, taught us how to kill. We had no choice, it was instinct. And we were starving.

I turned my head slightly, fingers curling and uncurling with aggression. I couldn't choose, I couldn't decide. The sting of a whip sounded against my back, and I lurched forward. It was a branding, something telling me I wasn't myself anymore, my body was owned by someone else. It wasn't physical, but I knew mentally who I lived for now. It wasn't me, it wasn't anyone in these stands. It was the person with the whip, the ringmaster. I felt spasms take over, persisting to my brain. Shock catapulted me into hysteria, my mouth frothing as I changed. Hair grew on my skin, my tail popping out and moving of it's own accord. I held my hands to my ears, trying to resist the transformation. But they changed as well. Before I could stop it, I was completely feral.

The crowd gasped as they realized I'd just turned into a cheetah.

* * *

Nudge

I don't know when we all started acting different, being different, seeing each other different. It might have been two years back, my twelfth year of life. It was early into the summer, and we'd all been eagerly awaiting for something to happen. It was a down time, after all the chaos we'd wreaked - or wrought, whatever - early on. I can't get much into to that, but it's not the point. Something big did happen. It wasn't just big I guess you could say...it was huge. It was beyond big, bigger than the School, bigger than everything we'd seen ever happen. It wasn't like the blood baths we'd sometimes be brought into, the emotional havoc we'd all experienced at one point, for God's sake it wasn't even as big as red being the new black!

Somehow, one way or another, each of us became unable to fly.

It hadn't happened to me or the other younger ones of our Flock, including Angel or Gasman. Not even Iggy had found any troubles. No, Max was the first to drop. She was gliding her way down a hill, trying to go get some food from the garbage cans in the town below. Fang had been keeping an eye out while she was flying, him high above the clouds and tracking her with the raptor sight he was cursed with - we all were cursed with. She'd tried to keep us from going down there earlier, because there were just too many people. She didn't want trouble, she didn't want anything to get us hurt. So she went alone, so went her wonderful leadership skills.

Without a second thought, her wings clung to her sides and brought her into a plummet. Fang had tried to grab her, but she dropped into the grass before he could reach her and help her out. At first they thought it was the wind which clamped her wings shut, so Fang had tried again to help her fly. They flew off of a smaller cliff near our home, and Fang let her go mid air. No results - and Max ended up with a whole ton of bruises. Her arms were shred to ribbons, blood streaming out where the pine needles had ravaged her skin. It was unearthly, and she knew that. Something was wrong with her. And Max couldn't accept that again. We'd already been through the whole not exactly normal cycle one time around.

We didn't need it again.

Ever since then things have been tense, things have been completely out of whack. We couldn't get it out of our systems that we could be next - we _would _be next. It seemed so unreal, like a dream. But who am I to talk about unreal? I'm a frigging flying human. There's nothing more unreal than that. It's not like we're a happy go lucky family who lives like Heidi in the mountains with strawberries and rainbows. We're the Flock - constantly hunted down by Erasers and always in danger. We're wanted, on posters all over the School - not to say I would know exactly. We'd only been there like once, and that wasn't the most pleasant experience ever. It was hard enough living, but now our only advantage was becoming extinct? Without flying, we weren't anything. Flying was a part of us.

Without it, we'd be nothing.

* * *

Seth

My entire body was sore, like I'd dived headfirst into a fight and hadn't even bothered shielding myself. That was usually the result of going feral, I could never get rid of it until the next morning. And by then, I'd probably be out in the big tent again, raving because of something in the crowd. Sometimes it was blood, something they'd always create. The ringmaster's goons, that is. They probably had put that paper cut on the toddler I attacked yesterday, slicing him with the ticket while his parents weren't looking. To keep him from sucking it they probably gave him a lollipop or something, proclaimed the family as a lucky winner and to get half off or something. I didn't know what it was, and I couldn't tell even when I leaped into the stands. Everything was a blur then, all choppy images trying to peice themselves together but unable to.

I could remember the adrenaline which came with the thrill, the thrill which burst into my lungs and into my stomach as I transformed. It wasn't me anymore, it was the animal, the cheetah. I couldn't breathe like the way I'd usually breathed, it was more of a rush through my lungs. It wasn't something where I was welcoming the air, it just came as I bound through the room. My fur had tingled with excitement, tongue hidden in my mouth with the sharp teeth I'd grown. One minute I was running up the bleachers, the next the child's shirt was in my teeth, the entire thing ripping like it was nothing. My teeth were bared now, the child's parents screaming and demanding the ringmaster do something.

Then the sting of the whip exploded. I felt it sear through my fur, all the layers of fur I'd grown in a rapid amount of time, and then reap blood upon my bare flesh. I didn't scream, instead I yowled. My mouth was pulled away from the boy from the instant motion of yowling, the child dropping into his father's arms. Tears were streaming down the boy's face, and the blood on his finger didn't feel so appetizing anymore. I wobbled off of the stands, falling backwards as I lost about 200 pounds in muscle. My limbs tangled in my fall, and I felt the breath being knocked out of me as I crashed into the floor. The wooden boards creaked as they tried to support my weight, but no one noticed. If they did, they would know there was a basement. They would know what really went on in this circus.

The images were impossibly choppy after that, people pointing their middle fingers at me, cussing while I groaned in pain. They didn't care, all they knew was that I was an animal, part of some freak show. They threw their bags at me, popcorn landing in my hair and butter flying into my eyes. It stung, the pain from the whip and everything around me. Their emotions were vibrating off of them, anger pulsating in my direction. The hair on my neck stood up from the feelings, all clouding my vision even more than the agony. The ringmaster was apologizing, they were forgiving. To everyone but me. As the entire circus was unfilled, the ringmaster grabbed my collar. The shirt was shredded into peices, looking like I was the one attacked by a cheetah. He checked to make sure my ID ring, tightening it on my ear and testing out all the works. I writhed as he shocked me with God knows how much bolts of electricity, then chuckled. Throwing me into the crate, I was brought back into the basement.

Those people forgave this devil, never thinking to forgive me. To forgive the real victim.


	2. Indifferent

Seth

I was completely overridden with thoughts, with information and ideas. It wasn't exactly thinking, but more of a horrible ache in my body. I couldn't get it out of my head, just trying to be wild and free. I didn't want anything restraining me, anything trying to get me to change. I was an animal, something completely feral which humans couldn't control. Or consciences. All empathy and regular emotions which existed in my previous body were gone, and I knew that. The ringmaster would exploit that emotion for my next performance, something below the circus. Not a freak show anymore, but a race. A race to see who could go the fastest, stay the fastest, live the fastest. All I could think about was living.

Lynn was whimpering beside me, her heart problems kicking in. I didn't pay attention to her, even though the feelings I felt were making me crazy. I wanted to help her - but I shouldn't. I wanted to rip these cages apart and free everyone in the stupid basement - but I shouldn't. I couldn't. If I had, if I did, I'd be the one in trouble. I'd be the one rolling around in the sewers, my lifeless eyes rolled back in my head and blood staining the murky water. I couldn't die so vainly, freeing the others for mere seconds before they were tazered and rid of their little food. I tried to block my mind of her incessant whimpering, trying to figure out a way to get us out of this hell pit.

Then two hands clawed at my cage.

"Come here, come here." The words seemed alien to me, but I could understand them so well. I didn't want to understand them, because it didn't feel right. My mind told me I shouldn't, every fiber of my being was screaming out to me. It wasn't genetic, it wasn't correct. Whatever these people had done to me was wrong, but I had to accept it. For now. I crawled out my cage, meeting another man in a velvet suit. I wanted to tear his tuxedo to shreds, then his flesh and then his bones. I wanted to rip out his eyes and his hair, letting it all fall around me as I ran free. For once in my life, be let free to roam wherever I wanted.

The big eyes of a red panda looked up at me from Lynn's cage, and I could tell what had happen. They'd made her change again. For me, I'd gotten used to the brain-splitting pain, my throbbing ears and tightened veins. The way my bones ripped apart, bent in half, dislocated and moved into different parts of my body. The way the spasms took a hold of me, how I blood seemed to cover my eyes as I'd transformed. The whimpers weren't because Lynn was caged or unable to speak her mind. They were because she was scared to change back again.

The pain truly wasn't worth it.

* * *

Nudge

When I wake up in the morning I usually have a very decent routine. First, I stretch and groan as I crack my eyes open and the light blinds me - though in reality it was probably only the glow from my nightlight. Okay, so I use a nightlight. When you're being chased by wolfish super models with honey and milk voices and guns, it's not wrong to have a bit of assurance. When you're on the run for all of your life, unsure when somebody's going to go ahead and stab you in the back, it's time to get a nightlight. But that's besides the point. Then, I uncurl my fingers over and over, lifting my head slightly but letting it fall. My toes slide out from the blankets, and my socks - which I'd been wearing for 24 hours straight - slip off and onto the floor. I stretch one last time, and flop back onto my pillow, burying my face. I can hear the snoring and tooting of the Gasman, and Angel's breath whistling through her small nose. There's also Max, but I can't tell what she's doing, though it probably involves Iggy. And Fang, well...does Fang even sleep?

Anyways, I don't wake up and see a teenage boy lying down on my bed.

I try not to hyperventilate. For all I know, it could be some sort of Eraser gone wrong or whatever. If I wake it up, it could morph and kill me and then hunt down the rest of the flock. No, I'd have to approach this professionally. Unfortunately, that defied all of my instincts which came off in waves; run and scream, run and cry, and just plain run. I look towards my window, and try not to think out loud. I _swear _that was closed when I went asleep last night. I gasp, seeing that the usual inhumane twinkle and hungry grin aren't flickering in the boy's body. In fact, he's wide awake and not doing anything to me. Yet. His big amber eyes glitter with flecks of silver and dark green, unexpected colors in the dull void of an Eraser's sockets. His mouth is closed, and he wriggles a bit on my bed. I climb out, and look closer.

He's sleeping with his eyes open.

I can tell that he is, considering he twitches slightly every now and then. It's sorta creepy, of course, but I suppose I could endure it. While I'm staring at his shaggy brown hair with black flecks - which seems completely unnatural and are probably just highlights - I feel only slightly stalker-ish. Okay so a bit more than slightly, like, a whole ton. I inch towards the door, my entire room like a mine field. There's clothing everywhere, orange peels and magazines peeling off my walls and hiding under my bed. Ever since Angel moved out of my room, it's become slightly more grotesque than I wished. She'd always remind me to clean up, and she'd help out too. Now, it was like something struck my room and everything exploded into mayhem. I blushed. I had _such _luck he wasn't awake yet to see my scattered intimate apparel.

Spoke too soon.

I see him perk his ears as I grab hold of the door knob. Okay, that couldn't be healthy. Actually, now that I looked closely each time I moved it seemed like he was wiggling his ears, not perking them. Then again, was that better? He stretched, his clothing stretching to show a bit of skin on his back. It was tan, but seemed pale like it was supposed to be darker but wasn't able to. I shivered. _Why_ was I looked at a stranger's skin? _Why_ was he in my room in the first place? I shook my head, and grabbed tightly on the knob. There was only this door between him and Max. She'd be fine with breaking apart from whatever make-out hold Iggy had her in this time, right? Plus, she'd be able to kick his butt easily, if he was an Eraser. Which I couldn't tell and didn't know.

"Hey..." The boy staggered towards me, his hands held out as if asking for some sort of donation. I instinctively stuffed my hands in my pockets looking for money to give. Of course, I'm wearing boxer shorts and they wouldn't have pockets. I look myself up and down. I'm wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles T-shirt I fished out from some Goodwill bin, and my lime pinstriped boxer shorts. That's great. I'm standing in front of an overly cute teenage boy - a stranger to begin with - and wearing very showy clothing. He looks at where I'm looking, but doesn't seem to catch any awkwardness.

"Hey, do you...meat?" He licks his lips, and I stagger away. Meat. If he'd asked for anything but meat from me, like money or soy bacon, I'd totally fork it over. If that would keep him from killing me, I'd jump and give him my entire stash of hidden fruit gummies. Anything, but meat. I couldn't touch those quivering slabs of raw pig, cow, squirrel, or whatever it was Fang decided to steal for us. No way. No how. I looked back at the boy. He seemed slightly...thin. Was he not eating? His eyes didn't glitter like they did when he'd been sleeping, the silver becoming a bit more gray than expected. I sigh, a bit like Max usually does when she finds I've used up all the hot water. Can a girl not expect to use boiling hot water for her daily baths? Being a girl is hard enough, but being a mutant with always sore shoulder blades, its time to just give in and accept the fact I need a bit more water than normal people. Completely off track.

I take hold of his hand. It's really cold, which I didn't expect. I wasn't exactly expecting the time of my life either but, well...whatever. The boy moves farther towards the door, and I take hold of the handle. He better be cute enough for a full-fledged vegetarian to go against her nature and actually touch...meat. I shiver, but it's not only because of the thought of raw meat. As the boy lurches forward and tightens his grip on my hand, I think furiously. _God, why couldn't I just be a normal mutant for once?_

_

* * *

_Seth

She smelled nice. Did that sound wrong? Well, it's true. She smelled like mango, though I couldn't imagine why. My sides ached from running here, and from transforming so much in one day. I kept on having migraines, unable to speak the language native to this human figure of mine. It set my brain on fire, making me feel like I was exploding in some sort of organic bomb. The girl, she took my hand and I struggled to keep from changing back. Something was taking over me, instinct causing me to be on alert at all times. I could feel my skin prickle with danger, the entire feeling making me seem vulnerable. The skin on my hand was resisting the urge to peel back and release razor sharp claws, and I hadn't wanted this kind girl to see them. To see those claws covered with blood.

It smelled nice her in room. I couldn't really process anything but smells at the moment, even colors seeming to distort in my vision. It's not like I needed the colors to survive anyways. I'd been born colorblind, the experiments and Project Circe changing me to see in color during my human form. I still found brightness to be more important, the dim light emitting from some sort of enclosed wildfire the only light I could really make out. Fabric covered the sun, muffling it's beauty. I found it easier to sleep this way, but I still wanted to see the sun. It'd been so long since I'd seen the sun, or basked in the warmth of it's rays. The closest warmth I could get was from the girl's hands. I squeezed them to warm up.

She seemed nervous. I could smell the sweat beads rolling down her face, everything closing into perspective. This wasn't something she should do. I let go of her hand gently, but she latched back on. This girl was different. She wasn't scared to hide me, but she was a bit scared of someone else finding out. That was good. I suppose fear made her more human, and it made me seem human. I had to remain this way before she realized what I was, what I'd escaped for. Looking at her back, two holes ripped out from her shirt, I felt like it wouldn't exactly matter what I was to her. I felt that she had been through something similar, something more permanent.

But it never hurt to be cautious.


	3. Acceptance

Nudge

Where was the meat? I rooted through our refrigerator, the stainless steel kind which I have no idea how we owned. Sometimes, you could find really expensive stuff around our home, and we weren't about to tell anyone how we got them. Secrets, secrets. Is there a problem with people taking things to benefit them? We're mutant and almost extinct Avian-Americans - I believe we deserve some of the finest things in the world. Clothes can't be accounted for, but food is where things really count. Then again, all we have in the fridge is junk food; Cola, hamburger patties, hot dog weenies, all the favored condiments, and a whole ton of candy for Angel. The apples and fruits and all the good stuff I eat is something rare we find. Sometimes, my only breakfast is bread and cheese, which can't be healthy.

Wait, focus.

I pull out honeyed-ham slices and threw them onto the table. There was a big thing of watermelon, which I loved, so I took that out too. The boy was still sitting there, his fingers twitching around impatiently. I looked at his stomach again, the ribs almost showing. Okay, that would've been really gross, but what can I say? I've seen worse things. Taking out a napkin, I unzipped the bag of ham and tenderly took a piece. One hand clapped over my mouth to keep me from puking, my forefinger and thumb squeezing my nose shut. I felt like I was doing a surgery. I'm very squeamish with blood, which doesn't really help considering I see blood about 24/7. To think someone actually grew a pig, grew a pig off of slop and God knows what, killed the pig mercilessly, and then with precision cut it up or sent it down an assembly line - corpse and all? Thinking of that was almost as bad as seeing the raptors eat the real thing. And that's really bad.

I dropped the slice a couple of times, eventually slipping it onto a plate. The boy licks his lips hungrily, and it's only slightly unnerving. Letting go of my nose, I go to wash my hands with tons of soap. Vanilla soap, and then mint soap to drown out the smell. Yes, that's exactly what I'll do. The suds are coming off in waves, and I let the trickling water's sounds fill my head, trying to get rid of those hungry chewing noises I hear from the boy. He seemed so polite, and then to be eating with his mouth open so hungrily, well, that's kind of unexpected. I wipe my hands on a rag and squirt some hand sanitizer on my palm. Leaning on my elbow, I watch him lick his fingers and push his plate away.

"What's your name?" I ask, before I can even think of the words. No, that's wrong. Before I ask someone their name, I should say mine. "Err, my name is Nudge." It must sound like a weird name to him, which I try not to think about. _I should've told him my name was Monique._ I shake my head. But I wasn't Monique, I wasn't that name that someone else chose for me. I was glad to choose my name, to be Nudge in the eyes of others. I couldn't be anyone else, surely. No, I'd stay Nudge to him. It's not like anyone ever called me Monique anyways.

"Seth..." He grumbles, as if it disagreed with him. I nodded politely, then completely jumped out of my seat. Max knelt beside me, her wings tickling my face as she looked hard at Seth. Okay, not the best scenario ever. He has bit of meat all over his face, and currently has a bit of a grin on his face. Does that not look right? No, it should look right. Because nothing happened. I look at Max, trying to signal to her that nothing happened. I was afraid if I spoke I'd totally lose myself and start having a nervous breakdown. It's not like I was in depression or anything, but Max is the type to set her mind on something. She's a determined person, and if she thinks somebody's a threat, you better darn believe that person's a threat. Max thinks a bunny is rabid, that bunny's rabid.

"Morning, Nudge." She slides onto a stool, her wings tucked in behind her so that Seth can't seem them. I forgot to hide mine the entire time, the tawny wings poking out of my back in full view the entire time. My feathers were all out of place, which annoyed me to death. How many times did I have to brush those things everyday? Too many times to count. I try not to wiggle around uncomfortably as Max stares daggers at Seth, steam coming out of both of her ears. She grabs a cup of coffee from our automatic brewer, and sips it slowly. Seth grabs a napkin like it's nothing. He's just got a superhuman and paranoid teenage girl trying to figure out how to kabob him.

"And you are?" Seth turns his head expectantly, his ears wiggling in that weird way they do. Angel walks out of her room, rubbing her eyes and tugging on her dress's bottom like a baby doll. Max's eyes softened as she came out with the Gasman in tow, his blond hair ruffled from sleep. Iggy walks out of Max's room buttoning his shirt, yawning and blindly walking around - well, he's blind anyways, but he must have been pretty knocked out to be tripping over his own feet in familiar territory. Okay, I didn't want to know what was happening with them in there. Thank goodness _he_ wasn't here. With _him_ here, Seth would basically have no say in anything. The patio's screen opens a crack, and as light shines through we all turn to look.

Spoke too soon.

* * *

Seth

Everything was so bright. So much light, it hurt my eyes. I tried not to cringe, tried to stay composed. It was difficult, with all of these people and all of this light. It was almost as bad as the circus, sending me into a nausea. The meat I'd just had was delicious, my every fiber of my being screaming for more. I usually wasn't so hungry, wasn't so starved, but last night knocked me out. Made all this pain I'd been hiding emerge all of a sudden. It wasn't good, and things were getting worse as I saw another person walk into the room. I sniffed slightly, taking in all the smells. Cotton candy, from the smaller female. Smoke from the smaller male. Cinnamon from the taller male and the taller female. Nudge's mango. Then there was this new man, with a different scent. The scent of midnight - the scent of an alpha male.

I fought back the snarl, the instinct which made me want to coil back and leap forward with my claws unsheathed. I couldn't match their smells with names, just the scents. They were just more people to me, people who were friends of the nice girl I'd met. Of Nudge. The alpha male had large wings outstretched, and I half expected to see him morph like I had. They glinted in the light, purple rays blinding me. It hurt my eyes, so I closed them. I relied on my senses to track everyone down like prey, not hunt them but make sure they were in place. The two younger ones, cubs it seemed, were chattering wildly about me. I could hear their words, but not understand them and process them. Meanwhile, I felt the eyes of the two dominant figures in this pack burning through my skin.

"Fang, we have to get rid of him. He knows about us - he's _seen_ Nudge's wings. We don't have a choice, especially now that we're so, well, you know..."

"Max, please, he hasn't done anything. He's innocent, he hasn't hurt me or anything. He doesn't care, he doesn't mind. Please..." I could hear Nudge turn towards me, the smell of salt clinging to her regular mango. I didn't want her to cry. Scenes flashed through my head of Lynn, and the others. Of Micky, and all the other newcomers. Lynn, her big eyes still haunted me. I could imagine her in the basement, tucked away in a cage and crying as the pain of her heart condition and her transformation killed her slowly. I never quite understood how we'd all gotten there, but we were a family. I couldn't push them out of my mind to be replaced by strangers. Even if it was the nice girl, Nudge. I came here for a reason.

"Seth, this is my family. This is Max, and...you can open your eyes, it's all right. Really. We won't hurt you." I opened my eyes, and looked at each person as Nudge pointed them out. Max, Fang, Angel, the Gasman, and Iggy. I tried to look for those things Nudge had on her back, the same ones I was sure that Max had. No one showed them openly, and I could tell there was a reason they wouldn't. They were scared, scared of being seen. They didn't want people to see the real them, the creatures people had made them. That seemed to be me, too. I couldn't imagine how much pain they were in to gain the wings, the wings Nudge had, but it can't be as bad as my transformation. I looked at these people, their doubtful faces as if probing me. I wouldn't be probed.

I let my instincts take over, and it was as if a dam blocking all of my tension was released. It still hurt, since I was sore from it before. I felt my skin rip, my bones break and everything collapse upon me. If I were normal, I should've been a pile of goo. No longer solid, but liquid. But it wouldn't matter, since I wasn't normal. I was "enhanced" as the ringmaster had told me. I knew well enough the ringmaster liked to stretch the truth, lie. That's how we'd all become what we were, always born from his lies. I felt sinful knowing this, but let the instinct continue to take over. I was surprised they hadn't sensed something different about me at first; the way I glinted hungrily when in sight of meat, how I shrunk back and my nose scrunched when approached.

They were staring at me, my transformation taking them all by surprise. Nudge seemed the one to be most scared, the one who didn't want to accept that this was happening. Did I really scare them that much? Did the transformation awe them, make them want to run away? I let my tail run along the side of the table as I moved forward, towards the family. My teeth almost bared, but I let them stay hidden - why go through the trouble to scare them more? I looked at my claws, everything changing. They had blood coated on them, blood from yesterday. Blood from that night. I wasn't sure if I could gulp in this form, but I did something like it. I was scared, and my fur tingled with it.

Max, the one who smelled of cinnamon, was obviously trying to decide whether or not to punch me. I let a growl rumble in my throat, low so then I wouldn't seem too much of a threat. "Nudge...who...is...this..." Fang was speaking through his teeth, upset by the occurence. I wasn't sure why, but that made me happy. I'd always been the alpha male in our little group back in the circus, but I never had any pride issues. But seeing another alpha get riled up and confused because of me, well, I had to force a purr down my throat.

"I don't...know...Seth?" I turned towards Nudge, her eyes wide with fear. She grabbed my head and buried me in her chest, stroking my ears. I finally let the purr out, and everything came towards me. Angel, the one of cotton candy, walked towards me and knelt beside my flank. She muttered something inside of my fur, something I couldn't hear very well despite my excellent senses. I had the urge to run out of here at my fastest, get away from these loving people. I knew what "loving" people were like, what they did. I looked at them expectantly, waiting for a response from them. Nudge turned and looked and them, trying to ask something. She would probably do whatever she wanted anyway; she just seemed like that type of person. Max shook her head, and Nudge turned back to me. Letting my head go, she tried a smile.

And unfolded her beautiful wings.


	4. Movement

Nudge

"Do...do you like them?" I ask, my wings unfurling and catching on the wind lightly; pulling back my shoulders and making me feel like I should stand straight. I was blushing the entire time, thinking about it. Bird girl and cat guy. Two total opposites, from similar worlds who completely fall head over heels in love with each other. If only my life were so easy. I knew the minute I let loose our huge secret, there was no going back. Seth would become a target, the Erasers would kill him as well as us. They'd send us off to foreign places, using us for their own wealthy ways. I imagined how Seth had become the way he was, and felt a little less regretful. Something told me that he already had a red dot shining on his chest.

Max groaned, and tried to make the best of this whole situation. I could see it all register in her eyes; total stranger. Total stranger who knows our secret. Total stranger who can morph into the fastest animal on earth. And he knows our secret. Max knew that if Seth turned out bad, he would've run out of here and sold off our information and location already. Because she knew he could, being the 70 miles per hour predator he was. She would have no chance of stopping him, especially since it appeared he was genetically altered, we'd get nowhere chasing him in the skies. I could almost see a white flag wave in the air above her head, but something more glinted in those brown eyes of hers. That small determined stare shook me thoroughly.

"Okay...why'd everybody just gasp? What's happening? Gasman, stats?" Iggy seemed completely confused, and I felt a bit of pity. I had to scratch it off, because I knew Iggy completely hated empathy. It made him want to scream at the top of his lungs and claw his eyes out - even though it would make no difference sight-wise. Okay, now I feel bad for thinking that. I was wrestling with each comment I had in my head, and while I tried to deal with my inner conscience Gasman was explaining everything to Iggy. Seth perked his ears, and I finally understood that weird wiggling thing he did. It was weirder in his human form, trust me.

"In short, Iggy, the boy just turned into a frigging cat." Max sneered, even though I could see her eyes soften as she looked Seth up and down. She was trying to feel compassionate, because we probably shared something with him. We definitely weren't supposed to be what we were, but it happened and showing it to someone definitely took a weight off your chest. Unfortunately, usually it was one of those weird scenes where you'd have to kill the person you told the secret too. Anybody knowing about our existence, well, it was dangerous. Max had encountered a point in time where she had to tell somebody her secret, but she knew well enough it would never happen again. Funny, how in the worst of times somebody just had to prove you wrong, huh?

Iggy was still trying to process everything while we all thoroughly examined Seth. I didn't find much of interest, except for the fact he had claws and ears and a tail, but that was standard for a cat. Just not for a human. I tried to suppress a pointed look as I saw blood on his claws, and when he yawned there was some on his canines. I looked away, but Fang caught my discovery. I knew that if he found out what I'd found something would happen, and there was no knowing with Fang. Jesus, Fang didn't express any feelings. If you up and kissed him - which I'd seen a couple of strangers do before, and, _unfortunately_ as Max says, her too - he'd look you in the eye, and go to Starbucks to order a decafe. He orders _decafes!_ The man doesn't even like sugar in his food!

Then Max and the Gasman caught on too, and I knew I'd lost the battle before even putting up a fight. They looked at Seth closely, and Fang lifted his chin up and then brought up his lips. Seth growled softly, and Max furrowed her brows as she saw the blood. Seth winced as he noticed what they were looked at, and immediately sheathed his claws. I looked at his paws - cheetahs couldn't sheathe their claws. They were always out, always. I looked at his eyes, and saw the pain reflected in them. He was morphing back, wasn't he? I scrambled to get everyone away from him, not wanting him to see him at his weak point. It wasn't fair to him...

"So, Seth. How do you tick?" Iggy curled his lip up slightly, and I knew it wasn't evilly. Everyone was interesting, begging for data - data Seth didn't want them to uncover. I saw him writhe, but turned my head around as he changed back. I didn't want to see Seth hurt.

How did the whitecoats do it to us, then?

* * *

Seth

They didn't want to hurt me, and I knew I had much explaining to do. But I need to catch my breath, the agony making it impossible for me to breathe. My throat was raspy and dry, and I couldn't speak hoarse voice or not. I'd lost my voice, as I always did temporarily after shifting. It proved to be a disadvantage, because I need water to heal faster. Not only that, but I wanted a cup of water very badly. I had to keep these people informed, or I'd never go back to the circus. I don't actually want to go back, but what could I do? There were people waiting for me back there, people who needed more help than I could do myself. People other than Nudge were nice to me, and I couldn't let them die a painful death like the one they awaited in the circus. And in the arena.

I grunted towards the fridge, and Nudge almost flew towards it. I knew she could do it. I gasped, hungry for air and water. The others looked at me, but I wasn't a disease anymore. They weren't like the people at the circus, the people who mocked me and threw uncooked kernels at my eyes. They understood, even if a bit skeptical. But what could they do now? What other proof did they need that I meant no harm, then me turning into an animal and _not_ attacking them? I clutched my stomach, already growling for food. The Gasman, as Nudge called him, looked my up and down as if searching for my weakness. I let him be with his scavenger hunt, and looked at the others. Fang, the alpha, was turned to one side but I caught him sneak a peek at Max. Max, who was looking at Iggy. Iggy, who was talking in a whisper with Angel. Not that it kept me from hearing anything.

Though I don't prefer eavesdropping, I knew they would be the ones keeping secrets, those two. My gift/curse would come in handy.

"Here." Nudge pulled out a bowl of water, placing it at my feet and smiling sweetly down. I looked up at her, and she nodded towards the bowl. I knew Nudge meant well, she was the nicest person I'd ever met after all, but I wasn't an animal anymore. I saw she put thought into it, thinking about how I'd probably prefer a bowl instead of a cup. I felt ashamed doing it in front of all these probing eyes, but I bent down on all fours and lapped up the water. It felt cool against my ragged throat, against my burnt tongue. Every drop felt like a new breathe coming into me, filling me with life as if I were but a rag doll before. I slurped it all up, now unaware of those bewitching eyes trying to understand me. Sitting up, I looked at everyone.

"You want a story?" I saw them all nod, and even though I'd been so worked up and about to tell them everything, I wasn't sure anymore. I didn't want to get them involved, didn't want to further them into the disaster which made me. They'd think I was crazy, that I was beyond my limit and that I needed to be left alone in a corner. I didn't want things to be like that again. I didn't want to be tossed and tucked away where eyes couldn't help me, but where eyes couldn't hurt me. Plug needles into my wracking shoulders, connect machines to my brain and body. Smack me hard as I didn't do what they wanted, whipped me because I wouldn't go according to plan. If I did anything now, there's going to be no going back.

I looked towards Nudge. She had been so trusting of me, but what would she think of me when I told her my story? Told her the truth. I sighed, unable to let her down. I couldn't set her up to have her hopes crushed now could I? Without even asking I could tell these metahumans had been through enough of that. If they were humans with wings and therefore metahumans, what was I? A metabeast? Something which was born of the devil and the human, not something meant to be created? They were spawn of the angels, each and everyone of them. They were tainted but didn't let that get a hold of them. I couldn't do that. I opened my mouth, and let everything spill.

Thus the story of Seth the metabeast, half devil half human "masterpiece".

* * *

- Flashback -

Lynn

The cages trapped us, kept us hidden from the rest of the world whom we could tell everything. The world, who the ringmaster told us, would mock and ridicule and alienate. The world would do that to us, keep us in cages just like the ones we were in now. What was the difference between knowing the truth and not? The world didn't care. The world was too immersed in politics and global warming to be bothered with by the likes of us. By keeping us away from the world, we'd make everything easy for the world. The world be able to accept us then, once everyone was carefree and there was no such thing as evil. Wasn't that contradictory? The same people who kept us cages thought there were more evil things than abuse. More evil things than what they'd done.

By keeping us away from the world, we'd make everything easy for the world. Easy for the same people who kept us in cages. If anything, we wanted to wreak havoc and bring upon the apocalypse.

I looked out of my own cage, still smarting from my heart problems. I don't know why they happened so quickly, without even alert. I just knew that it had something to do with how I'd been created, how they'd treated me then. It was definitely not with care, and all they did was mock me. Naming me Lynn, sticking it to me like a label. I didn't want a name, not if I could be caught in such a way. It'd make it impossible for me to even breathe freely, something they'd have to let me do. I didn't want that. I was caged enough wasn't I? I would never be, in my mind, Lynn. Seth could be Seth, because someone else had named him. I had no one to name me. I'd rather be the nameless ghost than something they created.

Something they forced upon me.

I couldn't tell what was happening, but Seth was being dragged out of his crate as soon as he'd been put back in. He was in his animal form, his spots in view along with his ears. Sometimes, he shifted halfway and only got his tail and short claws or teeth, but that was something which rarely happened. When he broke a bone after being beaten, he tried to change back but because everything was healing it was almost impossible to go all the way. I swallowed, seeing the men throw him out by tipping the enclosure, then attempt to grab him with a catch pole. They knew that they couldn't tranquilize him like they could other animals, because carrying around a 77 pound cheetah isn't a piece of pie. More catch poles landed on his neck, and they pulled him towards the door to the basement. The basement. They were taking him out, but where?

When I looked at those catch poles, they didn't look like detaining machines. They looked like nooses. Nooses woven around Seth's neck.

* * *

- Flashback -

Seth

Wherever they were taking me, it wasn't somewhere most animals usually went. Because that's what I was. Not a human turned animal, an animal turned human. In many ways, it could be worse. Not every single strand of beastly fiber could be woven into a human's DNA, but animals seemed to have better chances because of evolution. They took us from our homes in the wild, taking mostly threatened animals for pleasure. They were poachers, using us to gain money and then when done with us, well, we weren't expensive. We were stolen property, disposable stolen property. The men pulled me along, dressed in velvet to disguise themselves in the dark. If any one person saw them, the animal was killed and so was the witness. It was best we stayed hidden.

I was rolled down the stairs, bumps and bruises but nothing more serious than a scratch. They healed beneath my fur, those cuts and bruises. My animal form was easier to manage, because humans are unknown. They don't have instincts, just sense. And even then they betray their sense, their will catapulting them to do exactly what they were created not to do. I, was created to be a predator in the wild, living for my species and not for myself. But know? I was simply a toy, no longer a predator but a scared child who could be used as easily as a regular human. And with enough torture, even the strongest human could comply to the circus' demands.

I turned a sharp corner, my hind legs smacking against the wall as I did. The pain throbbed in my back, making my legs feel constricted because of the hit. I was lackluster, not wanting to continue but forced. This was a slave trade, and that's all I could find to name it. It wasn't a documentary or analysis camp, it wasn't a daycare or hospital. It was a slave trade. Padding slowly around the damp sewers, from which we came upon through the basement, the smell stung my nose. It wasn't as bad as the things they used to gag me, all unnameable chemicals which shouldn't be used for any purpose other than numbing a patient. We kept on walking for hours, the men happily slurping up water from their bottles in front of me, taunting me to get me amped. I didn't want to get hung up on it, but it was instinct. I wasn't a fool. I was a cheetah. I was nothing to be played with.

Or, I had been such a strong and undefinable creature once upon a time.

Our party exited the sewers, opening up a manhole and emerging in the street. There were no cars here, nothing alerting me or possibly dangerous to my welfare. There were the men around me and the stability of my transformation which were dangerous, but they couldn't be accounted for. In some sick and twisted way, I'd already begun to see them as _natural. _I bounded through the land, grass tickling my feet and the catch poles straining at my neck. The men were in pursuit of me, having lost their grip momentarily. I wandered aimlessly, just wanting to taste the fresh air on my tongue and listen to the crunch of grass underneath my paws. This was natural. Those men, they weren't natural. I was trying to rewire my brain, and all I needed was a second. A second in the grass in the open.

I heard the men stop running. Their target was no longer on me, but eyes fixed on the ground around me. I felt a rumble, the earth shaking and quivering beneath me. I felt a yowl rise up in my throat as I rose up, unable to find a way off other than jumping now. I climbed feet, meters, up into the air before the ground stopped shaking. I shook my head and tried a look down. There were the men, and a pole connecting this earth to it's brother below. It had thrown me up into the air for a reason, and I let the yowl escape my throat. How would I jump this height? This was a trap, and I'd fallen for it so easily. Pacing around, I heard another mechanical noise. I could tell it was mechanical because of all the squeaks and inhuman hisses from steam, but not only that. I could tell it was mechanical, because what else would carry a 10,000 pound African elephant?

I looked hurriedly around me, still trying to find an exit. I'd heard rumors about this place, about what they did to some animals. Some were never the same, some just didn't ever come back. Looking at the elephant, I knew I would probably have zero-percent chance of going back. Without escape, I'd be dead meat within minutes. The elephant stormed around, shaking the entire platform and causing me to lose my footing. The size of the creature bewildered me, and instinct kicked in again. I would die fighting, even though I was scared to death. I'd have to use my only advantage to beat this thing. I didn't have size or weight, and if I tried to kill the thing in one shot my tactics would be dead. And so would I.

Cheers rained across us as more platforms raised, floodlights parading over our court and our bodies. I winced, already scared of the people around me. I couldn't hunt or kill with people watching me, I couldn't. It wasn't natural. I tried to get a grip on myself, tried to get myself to plunge at the beast before me and do something. My hind legs supported me, and I felt adrenaline pulse through my body right before my usual strategy. My brain filled with thoughts, new ideas for how to attack this thing before it'd even shown any weakness. My claws were out, not forced back in by my unnatural ability. I knew well enough claws weren't supposed to be hidden on a cheetah, for a reason. For survival means. Scare the prey. Kill the prey.

With these thoughts in mind, I sprinted towards the 5 ton menace.


	5. Release

- Flashback -

Seth

I knew few things about elephants. They usually trampled on predators and could use their ivory tusks to impale a person. Or in this case, a cheetah. Or this animal could morph into a person and kill me that way, in which the case would be a whole ton of smacking, punching, and kicking. It's not like I stood a chance with my numb and shaking body. I was too prone to breaking down just as the battle reached it's climax. And at the beginning? I'd might as well be ambushed while I was sleeping after being tranquilized. That's how bad the few battles I'd ever fought had begun. Unlike this time, I actually had a high possibility of winning towards the middle or end. That was small fights, barely much of a touchy-touchy thing to be called a fight. A tangle, more like it. But I was at a disadvantage.

In most cases, saying you could morph into a cheetah against five guys evened the odds - but in this example, with the elephant and ready to fall apart body, I was heading straight for a mounted plaque on the wall.

Everything came in seconds for me after the startle. Second one. The breath was knocked from me as I attempted to dodge sharpened tusks. My hind legs were scratched right where the tissue connected to the belly. A thud sounded as my shoulders smacked against the floor, friction gliding me so my head was hanging over the edge. It felt like someone had taken a chainsaw to my back and barely missed, parting my fur a bit and leaving blood to inflame my instincts. I was once again reminded of the constant whipping, the rings of fire they made me jump through in lieu of the lions. It wasn't a matter of survive, it was a matter of escape. For all I cared, escape and die was a good way to go. Better than being beaten to death and left to gather maggots.

Second two. The elephant charge and I moved away from it's destination by dragging myself. It trumpeted in frustration, and heart stricken with panic I force myself up. These emotions weren't born to me, the only emotions acceptance, pride, fury, affection, and even the slightest trace of grief. Panic? I wasn't built for panic, not for the kind I was experiencing. If I could define what I felt before as something, it wouldn't be panic. It'd be the slight acceleration of my heart, maybe even struggle, as I tried to win the fight. Not as I cowered from a predator, not as I worried about blood. I lurch forward in a stagger, then breathe in deeply. Scarlet is trickling down my thigh, my fur ragged with the liquid. I remain conscious, as much as the ache in my throat throbs. I have to get past this monster.

But I don't mean the elephant this time.

Second three. While the elephant is still dizzy from the sudden impact, I attack it from behind. My claws dig into it's coarse skin, a metallic taste filling the air as it falls back and lifts its front feet in the air. It rumbles, something like a growl but a noise which shakes the earth I'm barely standing on. It is in pain as well, hurting as much as I can make it hurt. The point of my claws aren't visible anymore, wedged in between it's layers of skin and hoping to go deeper for a fatal wound. It tries to shake me off, and I peel away from it, taking some skin with me. Another rumble, anger obvious in this one. If I were human, I would've smirked with triumphant arrogance.

Second four. I no longer feel pressured to think. It's only one word thoughts after not too long. Foot. Blood. Chance. The thoughts disappear and so do all the sounds around me. It's like I've gone deaf, but in a good sense. It's a pleasurable emptiness, giving me time to consider without thinking, to act without being interrupted. I'm in a completely different zone, something which only seems to happen during intense events and their climaxes. A bio-map of the elephant is presented behind my eyes, shifting as I moved them back and forth. Area to attack are shown as well as area to avoid, places where blood collects and places where bone will interfere.

I head for it's massive ears first.

Climbing onto it's back, I feel stronger. I'm not shaking, not numb or scared. All these emotions have left me, and I regained the senses as I had them before my changing - all but the bio-map my own genetic design. I'm a killing machine, and I finally see all the promise the ringmaster saw. I get caught up in thought, my feet drumming against the elephant without instruction. My claws are now grappling hooks, keeping me on even as all hell seems to break loose. I'm shaken, almost thrown off of it's back, the elephant even pretends to lose balance to scare me off. The pads of my feet are sore, but the pains excite me.

My humanity seems to be slipping away.

I'm fine with that by now.

Jaws wide open, I lust for the ears. They look so soft, so grand. but I don't care about the texture or the being itself at all. I'm thinking of all the organs in there. Everything I can _rip out_. Eardrums, canals, sense nodes and all the works. I want to take apart the elephant piece by piece, not merciful or forgiving in the least. I'm an alpha, I take charge and don't redeem. The betrayer, the one who hurts me, should be dead by the time I even give thought to forgiveness. Even then I shouldn't feel remorse for anything. Everything I do is for my salvation, my escape and survival. Not just mine, either. I need to make it out, to get free so that the others have hope. So that I can go back for the others.

By the eighth second I've got my mouth locked on flesh. I almost rip through the flesh completely, then I regain myself. I'm not a killer in this way. I'm not full of the disgusting filth the ringmaster calls promise. I am a cheetah, a natural predator. I am not a scourge though, not someone who kills for the reaping and the joy. There should be no joy in killing, though I am correct. There should be no remorse either. I think of this person. This _elephant. _It is in the same situation, only defending itself. I was the one attacking as well as it, we both were a part in falling for the trick of this arena. Cheetahs and elephants should never meet. At least not in my knowledge. Not naturally.

I look at it's ear. Next to my head is an ID tag. The tracker they use to hunt us down when we escape, if that's ever to happen. I stare at it, at the blinking green light which shows its stable, that it works and functions. I hate the green light for a moment, hate the crowd in the bleachers. But those people aren't to blame. I focus on the green light until my vision becomes blurred and when I open my eyes green spots dance across their vision. Without thinking I sink my teeth into the tag. The elephant lets out an inhuman scream.

At least it's _animal._

My breath catches in my throat as blood stains my muzzle and streaks across my fur. Whiskers are caught in my mouth as I try to pull off the tag, muscles straining and tensing with the physical stress. Every nerve in my body is screaming, shouting, trying to tell me that it's a steel hinge and I'll never get the earring off. That I will never end up saving this animal's life as well as my own. I don't want to believe it, but what are the odds? The victim storms wildly, becoming weaker and beginning to lose its feral abilities. I can't look back now - causing so much pain to this person only to back down. That's not fair to them. I dig my teeth in further as the human in the elephant begins to grow. My empathy strips away, and I know what needs to be done. Before it can morph back, I rip out the tag swiftly and crawl off.

The cheers in the crowd stop, confused looks focusing on my war trophy. The lights flicker uncertainly, and my audience finally realizes I've won the battle. Floodlights shoot across my body in a myriad of colors. It's like the fervor I'd gained was now coming back to haunt. I realized there was no glory in fighting in front of these people, even if they cheered your name. This was because they exploited your inability to stop the madness, to get yourself together before being forced into something which should've never happened. They love it. They _want_ to see you bleed. They _want _me to hurt another person, kill them, it doesn't matter how you do it. As long as it happens.

I don't give them a chance to cage me again. The elephant, a girl apparently, should be fine now. If she recovers quickly enough, she'll get off too. I just can't do anymore for her. I run straight off the platform, not caring if I land or not. My body tumbles through the air, and my eyes shut instinctively so the air doesn't dry them up completely. I have the wind sucked out of me, my fur bristling up in a way which makes me look on the edge all the time. I feel my lungs about to burst just as the ground catches my legs before I become a big mess of cat. I feel sore and broken, but continue through the prickly grass. I breathe in the wet smell, I let the mud soothe my scratched pads.

Mud equals water.

I let the river engulf my entire body, dunking my head over and over. Once I've found it, I won't let it go, embracing it and its fluent body over and over to regenerate my stamina. The chip on my ear short-circuits, sending a shock through my body. I almost whimper, but not because of the startling pain coming from my ear. _Water_. God, it felt so, right, finally covering myself in the stuff. I should've never wandered away that day, the day when everything changed. When the prospect of fresh water everyday and fresh game as well as those pieces of deli cuts which were left out were boring to me. When the idea of freedom was something still budding, something I didn't have a sense of yet. It was wrong to think that way, but sometimes I wonder. Why was _I_ the one who had to learn things the hard way?

I get out from the other side of the river, panting and trying to lap up water I can on my blood stained tongue. I feel heavier, the weight of the water weighing me down. My entire body kills, and I can't seem to heard out of one year. There's intrigue in my head, at the feeling I have at the moment. It completely contradicts my situation as escapee from animal abuse arena and circus. It goes against everything I'm supposed to believe in, but I've felt that way before countless times. Despite all of the horrible things which had happened to me, I feel like I'm king, or finally living for once.

At first I think that they're going to catch up to me - those men with the noose on a stick - and everything will be worthless. That everything I had wanted to do, like save the other animals, caged and forced to go through changes which shouldn't happen. That my life will be short and tragic, that I will probably end up dying by the hands of the same people I try so endlessly to defy. That no one will ever know what goes on in the circus, what we really are and what we've been through. We'll be the untold story, a myth, all because I got caught by a couple of slow, slow, humans. Then I emphasize on the _slow_ and remember.

I'm the fastest land animal in the whole frigging world.

* * *

- Flashback -

Lynn

The uniformed men came in with a young woman, someone a bit over my age. She had a crazed look of fear in her eyes, the kind that made you wonder what caused it, but you knew you could never ask. There was a makeshift bandage on her ear, obviously clumsy work, and no medicine since scarlet was bleeding straight through. Her hands and feet were bleeding, and she kept flaring her nose and almost touching her bandaged ear - like she hovered her finger over it but a phantom object blocked her from touching it head-on. She was thrown into a cage, and a couple of men shouted at her and rattled her bars. They kicked at her face, not kicking her but shoe soles making a racket and making her scrunch into the far back. She had her hand pressed to her temple, a vein throbbing and connecting to her ear. I shook my head, shocked by how they treated someone with a disability.

But we weren't people with disabilities, we were animals. That seemed to be their excuse.

I picked up a slice of wrinkled bamboo stalk, and nibbled on it carefully. I couldn't waste my only food for two weeks. Looking at the girl, I tried to guess her animal. Wild boar, ox? Then I heard her trumpet and realized it. An elephant. God, whoever was facing her obviously did some quick damage, but could've gotten hurt themselves. If they didn't come back, they were probably dead. Escape? No, escape wasn't even considerable. It was impossible. It just wouldn't happen. Rustling around, I rip off a piece of bamboo and hand it to the elephant girl through the bars. She snatches it up, gobbling it down even though she isn't supposed to eat bamboo. I'm just glad she's eating; it means there was no internal damage done.

The men saw me pass her the bamboo and took away mine, leaving me hungry and wishing I still had it. I don't regret ever giving it to her, but I do regret letting them see. Sucking in a breath, I wish for Seth. He always takes my place in these situations, he's my shield. If I can't even have someone to protect me, then I can't protect myself. I'm weak. I'm a red panda, for God's sake. I don't have the amazing abilities he does, and I'm not much of a predator. I'm not much of a prey, either, but I'm very prone to weakness. I watch as the lights go out one by one, the men leaving and locking lock by lock. The doors shut, the little heating goes completely to zero, and we all seem to lose our nerve. I curl up into a ball and hope for dreams.

All I get are nightmares.


	6. Isolated

- Flashback -

Seth

I can't really let my guard down even though I have so much confidence. I'm in new territory now, everything changing the farther I sprint. There are so many lights it feels like the circus, but they have a different message to them. I didn't exactly mean those weird ads, with buy one get one free deals, but more like all the neon signs in the distance. The ones on the restaurants, which read "OPEN" or even "CLOSED". I saw how people crowded around the former sign, laughing and talking so much that even so many miles away from them I can hear them clearly. I try to think, that if I just put a "CLOSED" sign on the circus' tent, people will stop coming. And with no income, they'll let all of us go, maybe even rework what they did to us.

Or they'd just kill us all and start a new one half-way across the globe.

I try to keep an southwest direction, trying to keep myself on target, but I soon stray from my set destination. My set destination which although predetermined, I have no idea what will bring me. I feel like I've been running around in a ball pit all day, trying to get out but trying to go in so many directions it's not possible. Struggling to continue, I slow down to about 40 miles per hour, my all time lowest. I'd only ever been out for so long to stretch my legs, but I could speed up to at least 60 miles. It feels like I'm trying to go slow in a world where I should be going fast, like all the other cheetahs. I'm doing something wrong, something out of the norm. I feel like I'm walking and not running, going in circles and not straight.

I hope that's not the reality.

My back arches without explanation, as my entire body reboots and transforms back into my human form. I grit my teeth against the pain, my tank emptied by the grinding and churning of my bones and organs. Shaking my head, I realize I need to eat. That I need to eat _now._ I look around me, eyes glinting in the dim light of dawn as I try to find one animal not sleeping. A squirrel, a bird, I'll take on a raccoon if I have to. I just need some hearty and raw red meat. My stomach growls, and the noise goes up and all the way to my lips. Letting it out, I expect something to turn it's head and wonder what I'm doing. Catching a glimpse of a grey tail, I dart forward with my hands outstretched.

Slamming against a trunk, I get back on my feet and run towards the scent. I've placed my every hope on this one scent, so if I get hurt or injured it wouldn't matter. My mind is going dizzy with the prospect of fresh food, something delicious something I'd never tasted. Leaves wrestle under my feet, and I feel the scent getting warmer. I want to do the bio-scan again, but my human form won't allow it. In this form, I'm a regular person with enhanced senses and the oddest craving of raw meat. My body is almost ticking off, letting me know when I'm going to just fall down and not get up from exhaustion.

"Gotcha..." I manage to let out before I trap the large squirrel in my hands. Looking at it, I try to think of how to eat it. I'd been thirsting for the ripping of flesh in my mouth, but know I didn't even know how to go at it. The squirrel lay limp in my hands, already figuring it's about to die and not even fighting back. I look hard at it, trying to find out what to eat first. But I can't find a way to eat it in this human form. Sighing, I let the squirrel go willingly. It nibbles frustratingly on my fingers, but they're already numb so it doesn't matter. The countdown is done, and I'm exhausted. I don't even think I can muster a groan as I collapse and wretch. I look around, knowing that I can't catch meat while human. So I latch onto the berries just in reach of my hand, and let them soak my mouth.

The skin is soft, and peels away from the spheres to let the juice and flesh go out. It's not the same as I'd imagined meat to be, as I knew meat to be, but it was something. I needed to keep on going. I tried to have my body burn the berries as fuel, and got up to change back. Maybe in my cheetah form, after a bit of running, I could catch something else. I'd have the ripest meat in the world, something so delicious I wouldn't be able to resist a couple more portions. I tried to imagine the taste of the meat, how my belly would be filled and my smile returned. With these thoughts on mind, I transformed and sprinted off.

* * *

Nudge

"And?" I was trying not to interrupt the entire time, but it was getting painful. I'd gone through hearing him getting beat up by somebody much more powerful than him, to Seth having to run around to find food and not succeeding. He'd told it perfectly, the whole thing, but I wanted it to end. I wanted him to say that someone nice took him in and during some sort of hunting spree he'd ended up in my house. That he wasn't in any trouble, and that the whole circus thing was probably over. I wasn't sure what the rest of the flock thought, but the circus a whole lot like the School. That we hadn't really gotten away momentarily, or that even if we did someone else was suffering in our place.

"And nothing. I eventually came across here, completely depleted of energy. That's why I slept on your bed." I blushed, but he didn't even look downwards. I had the feeling Seth didn't really care about embarrassing things, since he was more animal than human. He'd probably be able to say things like mate and...well, those words pretty easily. I wouldn't be able to; even thinking the words made me blush even brighter. Max and Fang sort of looked at each other, and Iggy had this cross look on his face. He didn't like it a whole ton when Max and Fang even looked at each other. Along with being defensive about his blindness, he was a bit prone to jealousy. I didn't understand the whole dating thing but I could understand that he wanted her to himself.

It was like Gazzy and his Nintendo DS. It was too precious.

"Seth, were there any men in white coats?" Angel spoke clearly, no longer bothered by the thought of those horrible men. She was a whole lot less feeling ever since Max forbid her to fly, but she wasn't exactly reachable before then. She was going through some sort of phase where she'd act like a devil and an angel at the same time. She'd speak sweetly but the words would be dark. That's the only way I could think of her now, especially since she'd turned ten not too long ago. Like the rest of us she was tall and much more mature seeming for her age, but she wasn't cute anymore. She was...seductive, for a ten year old. I kept a mental to make sure that Seth spent no alone time with her.

"No, there weren't. The men wore shimmering night. It seemed almost literal, like they could blend in that way." Max and Fang began to chat, and Iggy stepped away from their little conversation. I could see that Seth wanted us to understand, to realize that everything he'd gone through hurt more than we could imagine. But we could imagine, and that was the worst thing. I had to keep myself from curling up in a ball and clutching my head when I thought of it all. Of the bright lights aimed in our faces, of the needles ejected into us and the flesh torn away so that they could inspect. I felt tears prick my eyes, remembering that they hadn't numbed us during those times. That they made up run laps and build stamina without rest and food, that they made us test our mental capabilities and slapped us and hurt us so much without thought. It almost made me wish that I hadn't been born. That we'd never had to be subjected to such madness.

I tried to shake it out of me, going over to the fridge and pulling out a soda. I'd never eat so unhealthily unless something troubled me. I chugged it down, the stray soda tricking down my chin and onto my shirt. It felt bubbly and made me shiver with all of it down in my stomach. I rested my head on my elbow, continuing to sip while Seth stared at my family. Everything was going insane. Some of us had lost the ability to fly, some of us were waiting with suspense for it to happen, we'd all changed so much. Even the Gasman was different, always hiding himself away in a room, only emerging with an explosion in his wake and soot covering his feathers. Max and Iggy were in their fantasy world of kissing and things beyond thought, while Fang was left alone to mind himself. I seemed to be the only one who was different. I felt lonely that way, that I was the only one who hadn't matured. Who hadn't changed their personality completely in some way.

Rolling my eyes, I looked at everyone, in their own worlds. I thought of Seth, who was the only one I could change with me now. He and I could be the same from now on, and we wouldn't have to do this anymore. We wouldn't have to watch as others seemed to connect while we were lost causes. I wanted to be in my own world too, but when that proved scary, I needed someone to share it with. "Seth," I whispered so only he could hear, "Change back and follow me into my room." He nodded slightly to show that he'd heard, and I turned away with my can in hand and walked to my room. I hurried up, throwing on a cute outfit. So I was a bit self-conscious about how I looked. God, Seth's first impression of me was a girl in boxer shorts! I needed more than _that_.

I pulled on a pair of purple stitching Converse, putting cream legwarmers over that so then my tacky socks wouldn't show. Of all the socks people could donate, they chose plaid. Plaid which doesn't match with everything and barely anything! Scoffing, I pulled off my pajama top and threw on a frilly button tank while keeping my eyes on the door. I was still zipping up my waist-high skirt when Seth finally escaped from the crowd outside and came in. I shifted my feet a bit, and saw that Seth was confused. I tried to make an assessment of how I looked. I turned from him and put ribbon earrings in my ears, trying to make it seem like I wasn't trying hard to look nice. Clutching the stretchy fabric of my skirt, I hoped that he wouldn't be able to see my boxers if I bent over. Grabbing his hand, I pushed threw the window.

When we were both in the open air, the open sun, I unfurled my wings and launched off of the sill.

* * *

Seth

The smell of mango was erased from Nudge's body, replaced by something of a sharp kiwi. She was changing already, new clothes covering her caramel skin. There was a touch of violet on her feet blue on her ears, while cream danced in contrast of her skin on the sock-like coverings and the shirt. There was a soft indigo color to her skirt, which wasn't exactly skintight but did hug her. The different colors surprised me as much as the new smell which came with them. They smelled like detergent, and then her kiwi made it seem fresh and clean. I breathed it all in to keep myself from screaming while she flew me around in the sky. I was a cheetah, wasn't I? I wasn't made to fly, or be flown. I was only meant to bypass every single land animal on the earth in a race.

That was enough for me.

I couldn't smell my direction, or understand where I was going at all. I had thought to memorize a bit of this land, but up in the air it was different. The smells were of cloud and plumage, not of grease and gas like below. We were so far up, and before I'd been so down low. The entire scene made me want to jerk out of Nudge's grasp, but I knew better. I'd splat against somebody's windshield if I even let go of one finger. Nudge was probably straining to keep me up. I wanted to ease away the nausea, since I knew Nudge was doing this for me. She'd taken me away from the noise and shown me a completely different world just so that we could both get away for a second. This was a completely world, anyways. The wind interference stung against my ears, but once you got used to it it wasn't so bad. It was completely silence, just the swish of her wings beating in a hum much like a metronome.

"Did your ears pop? Oh, I guess I should've thought about that before you came. You're not going deaf, are you?" I shook my head, and just savored the moment. She silenced, though I knew it was hard for her to keep quiet. She was a talkative person, but that was okay. She could make up for the fact that I didn't like talking a whole ton. She's just letting me just understand what's going on, so then I can be comfortable. I feel my lips tug up in a smile. So she knows quite a bit about cheetahs, doesn't she?

"Hey, um, I think we should probably land and get you real clothes..." I look down at my body, seeing what she means. From so much transformation I have a ripped up shirt and pair of pants, which won't nessacarily look normal in this scenery. It might look normal in the circus, but that's a given. Nodding, I don't say a word as we land. I want to yowl in surprise as we tumble, but I'm too busy catching Nudge in our crash landing. She's breathing heavily, sweat beading on her brow.

I can't get up, my back sore from the whole squirrel thing and now the landing. Rolling Nudge off of me and onto the grass, I stare up in the space we were flying not too long ago. She'd whipped up the clouds when we were up, soft wisps of cotton pulled away so that they were only connected by strands. I let the grass tickle my skin while Nudge gets a hold of herself, shaking her head and checking her skirt before looking back at me. I rub my head, trying to get some blood back in there so I can actually sit up. Straining, I eventually get up sored and battered.

Nudge looks uneasy about causing me pain, so I force a smile and tilt my head slightly to look innocent. "Am I really that heavy?" Nudge laughs, and I see her regain her cheery demeanor. She holds out a hand and I grab it, and she pulls me up. Taking my hand, she shows me the Goodwill bins nearby, but I'm not noticing. All I can see how happy she is, and how she's so amazing when she's happy. Lynn's face flashes in front of my eyes, her sad look breaking apart my daydream. I tighten my grip accidentally, and Nudge blushes. I don't want her to fall for me. I don't want to fall for her. Not when I've got so much to do.

Being human is so dang hard.


	7. Dysphoria

Lynn

The soft rain drenched my coat, the red spikes which hung damply at my sides comforting me. I hadn't changed yet. My breath came out in soft puffs, the ground around me leaving footprints. I could imagine some poor boy scouts coming across my tracks, trying to identify them. "Is that a deer? No, no, it's definitely a raccoon." A laugh would've escaped my mouth if I were human, but instead I chirp excitedly. My belly grumbles, and my brain is telling me to stop moving. It's still dusk, and I should be fine. But the temperatures here seem to be warmer at the morning times, and I'm instinctively swaying off track to go and cuddle into a rock. I haven't eaten any food in so long. My body accepted the bamboo, but it wasn't enough. I had to focus with all my might, with the little human the bastards injected into me, and keep on moving.

Because I was finally free.

I don't know why they'd release me, but if you had a chance to escape from a prison where you did nothing wrong, you would. And I did. All it took was a pat on the ear and a push in the right direction. Knowing I would understand, they spoke directions to me and closed the door, a hurricane of sorts already striking down towards the area. This place was known to have extreme weather, and so they caught unsuspecting tourists in their snare and brought them to the circus. I would've screamed to them, yelled and them and told them what was wrong. But they wanted to watch us suffer, so I left them be. They wouldn't care that in the meantime any forgettable objects were being stolen from their hotel rooms. All they wanted to care about was the show.

I wasn't anything like Seth, not a built to kill machine. So they stuck me elsewhere at first, an extension of the circus called the cabaret. I was a red panda most of my time there, and the male customers complained that I did absolutely nothing with them. How could I do anything with men who paid not me, but my "master", for me to become intimate? So I was placed in the petting zoo, an area for people to test my temperament. At noon it was the children, and while I was trying to sleep they'd pull my tail or my ears and try to rip out my whiskers. Then during the nighttime, when I was actually awake, the older kids would pick me up in their arms and throw me around the place, craze blinding their common sense. I had an idea that the children meant almost none of our pain. Each time they came in they'd be handed a glass of lemonade, and those without lemonade generally spent the entire time complaining about being hungry, while the other tots became animals.

In a way, the circus was exploiting all of us.

So now that I was free, could you blame me for thinking of these things and pushing them into the corner of my mind? They all spoke entrapment, and I wanted to remember that I was no longer in a cage. I was no longer tested on every day when the circus wasn't open, no needles poked into my skin or mutations attempted in my heart. I let my belly touch the ground for a second, and crouched low as I tried to stop my increasing heartbeat. I gasped loudly, an attack coming full blown. Everything in my mind stopped, and I just stood shock still while everything else shut down too. My heart was throbbing, and the blood was flowing into my lungs too fast. Coughing, I feel some splatter onto the ground beside me, the rain washing it away towards my body. I felt like each and every one of my limbs was being injected with numbing fluid, everything around me going dizzy as needles struck my core. Finally, I felt the attack ease and let my heartbeat slow down.

The smell of food in the distance excited me, and as soon as I could I got back on my feet. The smell excited me, and with another horrible pain I transformed. Looking down at all the blood I lost, I kept on walking in my bare feet. I was covered from my knees down in the scarlet liquid, and my aches seemed to double in human form. Staggering, I headed towards the food. Even if I had a small chance of surviving here, at least I had a chance. Before I had no chance, no survival tactics except try not to get in trouble. Try not to let them notice you. And if they did, hide some more, because Seth would take care of it. I grimaced, remembering how Seth had never gone back. Did he escape too? Where did he escape? I thought of seeing Seth again, finding him and telling him everything. Letting him know...well...

So, this was what freedom was like.

* * *

Seth

The first thing we did was go into an ice cream parlor. I remember distinctly having cow milk before, though even then it seemed a bit vile to me. Drinking another animal's milk was a bit awkward, but since I wasn't even human it was only more unbelievable. Nudge didn't seem to care, and I always stood behind her just in case. If the people from the circus ever caught up with me, even though it was unlikely, she would be targeted. I needed to protect her, and her family. Looking at her back, I was surprised to not see her feathers. There was no lump in the back of her shirt either, which was even odder. Shaking my head, I tried to focus on the ice cream. There was an assortment of flavors; strawberry, coconut, chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream. All cow's breast milk. Shuddering, I took my eyes away from the menu as we advanced in the line.

Maybe I'd get frozen yogurt.

We were out of the building in a short time, Nudge licking the fudge out of her chocolate chip sundae. There were rainbow sprinkles all over her face, and I thought of how being a mix of some bird might've affected her human personality. I take small strokes, like I'm taking a bath but for a frozen yogurt. Everything very precise, with fluid movements and no spills. Whereas Nudge seems to enjoy attacking the dessert without remorse. Chuckling, I almost gag on the treat. Nudge begins blushing, noticing that I realized her messy eating. She's a very chic person, a social butterfly who doesn't want people to think weird of her. She's very dependent on people. We seem like total opposites. Smiling back at her gently, I remember what I'd told myself. No falling in love during dangerous escape missions. It's strictly taboo.

"So you lick but don't bite?" I raise my eyebrows, and wiggle them for some emphasis. She laughs, and then repeats her question. "You know, like...you don't lick but you bite? Doesn't it feel weird to lick?" The words come out her mouth, and she immediately covers it and a blush falls over her caramel face. I wipe my hands on my jeans, which were newly found from a Goodwill bin, and throw away the napkin I'd been using to soak up any droplets of yogurt. Nudge starts cracking up, and I get help but feel uncomfortable. I try to replay the scene in my head. Did I do something wrong? No, that's not possible. I look down at my jeans. Is my fly unzipped?

"It's n-nothing, it's just...you won't think I'm perverted, right?" I nod my head, and Nudge puts her hands down on her lap. Her hair is so curly, so when it falls down it shows bits and pieces of her face instead of the whole thing. Like a crossword puzzle you solve for a prize. Except, in this case Nudge is the prize. That was so corny. Thank God I didn't say that aloud. "I thought about what I said, and the minute I ran through it I was like...that's what she said!" We both laughed, even though I didn't quite understand the joke. As long as Nudge found it funny so did I. She ended up explaining it to me after asking me if I understood, in which case I had no choice but to answer truthfully. I perked up my ears, listening to people behind us, while I also put a slight frown on my face.

"Wouldn't that be a that's what he said?" We ended up being asked to leave the area because we were scaring away customers from some of the restaurants. I could imagine we looked like hyenas; our mouths wide open and eyes squinted while we laughed the ice cream out of our systems. We didn't care that we'd basically been kicked out of that one street, because across the road was a park. There were slides, and swings, as well as some animal you could ride on and it would bounce on a spring. Nudge asked if I could push her on a spring, then we both decided it was too cliche for us. We were the mutant and metabeast couple; anything normal would kill our reputation. A lot of the little kids came towards me, and I felt the urge to pounce on one of them. So I did, in a way. Even though I was bloodthirsty I just tackled them playfully. You could hear giggles breaking out from the tussle, excited screams and dirt flying into the air all around us.

I fell down onto the ground, my arms outstretched and the tips of my fingers touching Nudge. She was grinning ear to ear, so happy it was hard for me to resist the temptation to smile as well. There were other temptations, but...I was a gentleman. There were grass stains on my new shorts and grass on my new shirt. Though, technically, they weren't new. They were used, but new to me...I laughed harder, the confusion probably messing with my head. I felt hyped up on adrenaline and hormones, and just as I was working up the nerve to kiss Nudge then and there, a shadow crossed over our sunlight. I felt my white shirts turn pink with the red glow caught in the sun, a girl hovering over me. Nudge seemed to wiggle, finally getting up and holding out a hand to me.

"You." The girl points at me. "Come with me."

* * *

Angel

Was it wrong to think that there was something wrong with this guy? He'd immediately complied as long as Nudge told him to go, to eat, to smile and laugh. If it was Nudge it was okay. That's what worried me. I'm often viewed as one of the most immature, one of the most unable to do anything. But it's not true. See, if I had to rank our entire Flock on maturity, I'd be first. Max and Fang and Iggy were same wavelength, riding on second slow and steady. I know Max is determined and headstrong, but she's weak too. Iggy has his problems, and Fang is so much of a loner there's the question if he's even a part of our Flock. My brother is hand in hand with Nudge, cool with third and not having a problem with it. But there is a problem. Even though I say that he and Nudge are on the same level, there's a hitch. Gazzy actually has a way to save himself, actually has alternatives. He can create bombs with Iggy, and now he's so much better than Iggy. Nudge, she doesn't have anything. She has no protection.

Her entire personality is so willing and gullible, it's a huge chink in her armor.

I can be seen as cutesy and adorable, but I'm not. I'll play it as a front, and though sometimes it isn't I'm still not a babydoll anymore. I've matured, faster than the rest of my family. Something was weird with my genes, with the way they got my brain levels so much higher than anyone else's. Sure, we all matured so much faster than most humans, and we all looked older than our ages. I was completely different. Someone could mistake me as the same age as Nudge, my image fourteen even though I was only nine. It's not like I was trying to be a control freak. It's just...I loved them all. And being paranoid was my thing. Sure, even though I sound like I am the best - which I am, so please don't get mixed up - I still have feelings. Also, I worked so hard for them. For their happiness. It's not like I wasn't in pain as well, wasn't the only one not struggling. I have feelings, and sometimes for me I get it ten-fold. I plan everything so it's precise, so that we can all be happy. Fang's moody attitude? Accounted for. Iggy's tendency to feel envy when Max is around any guys? Check. But a new guy who's intentions are unknown?

Definitely not in the memo.

"Do you know why I asked for you?" I leaned over on the arm of the bench, my head resting on my arm in a careless manner. Seth obviously knew a problem when he saw it; he sat as far away from me as possible. I almost sighed, hiding my disturbance with a short giggle and then a hop over the arm and towards Seth. I'd worn an especially arousing piece of clothing today, just to see if I could get to him this way. The strap of my tank top fell to my shoulder, and I glanced at it slightly before looking back at Seth. "Listen, I know you like Nudge." I could tell my breath tickled his ear, because it twitched slightly before settling back into place. He was upset, and I wanted just that. Backing off from him, I pulled a windbreaker over my body to shut off the attractiveness. He obviously wasn't buying it.

"Of course I do." He didn't even fidget, though I could see his hands were clenching and flexing. He was probably getting worked up from the interrogation. Smiling, I cross one leg over the other and try to keep my eyes away from Nudge's questioning stare. She'd have to learn later, wouldn't she?

"That's why I'm telling you to back off." Seth turned around for this one, and I wipe the smugness of off my face and pepper it with sweetness. Seeing I'd hit a nerve, I take the grass one by one out of his hair, leaning over skillfully while Nudge was looking. It's not like I wanted to hurt Nudge, it's just, this is a dangerous man. He turns into a frigging cheetah, Nudge. I want to scream at her to get a hold of herself, but it's so out of character. The Flock is harmonious and in sync, and we never do things out of order. That's the problem; it's so expected for us to all get along so easily just because we've been through a lot together. Even if I feel like screaming at somebody, doesn't mean I don't love them. In fact, the only times I ever want to scream at anyone is because I love them! It's hard to break out of the stereotype all at once, so I've been trying desperately to do things inch by inch. I'd start by dissecting Seth's persona inch by inch, and when I was satisfied I'd stop.

But I'm so rarely satisfied.

"What if I don't back off?" There was a snarl in his voice, but he knew he wasn't fooling anyone. Seth knew as much as I that if he was so much as aggressive towards me, the other members wouldn't agree with it well. Not only that, but he's a marshmallow. If he'd wanted to pin me to the ground and chomp my head off, he would've done that a long time ago. But he's too concerned about what others think, about what Nudge thinks, and how is actions will affect his motive. But that's the key, the variable in the equation; his motive. It's a complex thing, what x equals and how to deal about getting to the bottom of it. Difference of squares? Do I multiply this or that? I've never liked math much.

Maybe it's because I don't have much patience.

"What if you have another motive to staying with us? Am I supposed to believe that you just happened to come across mutants like ourselves and just want to be friendly? You're just happy that we've been in similair circumstances? Am I just supposed to believe that?" I can see Seth smirk, and I have to push away my annoyance. He knows how to get on people's nerves, doesn't he? Well, the question is valid. You don't wake up to somebody with no problems, no problems at all except being caged and put through pain all their life. It doesn't happen. Of course, the Flock was basically formed in the same way. But it was different. We all were born into the same problems, raised with the same problems, _faced_ with the same problems. Sure, we'd warm up to people. But trust them completely without knowing their history? I doubt it. Even though Seth has given us information on where he's come from, why he had to get away, we don't know what happened between the intermission. When he was running towards our home, what was he thinking? That's all I want to know.

"I guess you'll have to, _Angel_." I scowl, but this only makes the idiot smile wider. He knows that I've just shown a small bit of the dark side of the moon, the devil to the Angel. He turns away from me and towards Nudge, and I can see the feelings speaking through his eyes. Sorrow, remorse, and worst of all, comfort. He's trying to comfort _her._ Groaning, I place my hand over my eyes as the sun glints into my face. Narrowing my eyes, I look towards the source of it, a silver ring in Seth's ear. Inching closer, so close I might fall over on him, I carefully grab his ear. How could I have not seen it? And to have been so close to it all this time! Seth doesn't even move, to preoccupied with the worried Nudge to realize I've been ogling his earpiece. Squinting, I look at the trails of code, the magnetic wiring in the object and the slow humming. I touch the bottom, feeling around and finding a button. Cautiously, I push it and the entire thing starts to beep. Seth finally turns his head around, fear flickering in his eyes as he pushes me off.

Nudge is running towards us, having already caught notice of Seth's distress. I scramble off of the bench, trying to mask everything I have whirring around in me. Sure, I finally cracked him. But there's a cost, there's always a cost. I look at the red flashes dotting Seth's face, his teeth grinding as the flashing becomes faster. I fall to the ground, thoughts of the School haunting me at the worst moment. I lean forward, my breath shallow as the lights blind me. I catch sight of a man with a long blade coming towards me, a surgical mask on his face and sun wrinkles on the corners of his mouth. He's wearing plastic gloves - oh how I hate the smell of plastic gloves - and people around him are clothed in similar attire. I'm on a gurney, but I'm shackled and everything seems to be happening too fast. It feels like a hospital, but it isn't a hospital. And that man is no doctor.

"Angel! Angel, what's wrong?" Nudge kneels down beside me, and I shake my head. I want her to get away. The men are taking her, they're taking her away. I can't look much further than the twin doors, the windows in them betraying the event. Nudge, she's there, and as the man smacks her she stands her ground. He smacks her once, twice, a third time. I can see the bruises on her face, the yellow marking her skin and turning those pretty eyes into endless folds of black. The man keeps hitting her, he keeps hitting her. My breath races up, and I see the man with the blade take a step towards me. He's trying to coax me, trying to tell me that it won't hurt. That it won't hurt for even a second. I try to wriggle out, try to get to Nudge. It's not working. I scream, a silent scream which scares me. I can't see Nudge anymore, but I know she's on the ground. And the man keeps hitting her. And hitting her. I try to think, try to process it. When is he going to stop? When is he going to stop?

Tears escape the corners of my eyes, and Nudge tries to kiss me comfortingly. Seth ends up hobbling over, but I'm caught in the dream. It's like I can see what's really happening, but behind my eyes I see something else. Nudge keeps looking at me, sparing a second to look at Seth. She spies his pain, and sees the flashes. The color is drained out of his face, and sweat is beading down his head. He's trying not to cry, not to cry in front of Nudge. I want to tell him it's okay, that it's fine. I won't pester him, I won't interrogate him, I won't do anything to stop their relationship. As long as he makes...whatever is happening, stop. I wail out the words, shaking my head more and more but Nudge is fixated on the lights. She's like a deer in front of a car. Swallowing, she takes my hand in hers.

"Seth...what _is_ that?"


	8. Cognition

Max

I could feel his breath against my skin, his feathers ruffling against mine and both of our shoulder bones grinding together. It might sound pretty intense and emotional stuff, but it wasn't. We were just lying on the couch, being lazy asses and trying to figure out what to do. I couldn't break my own rule and try to go flying, not with the risk that someone wouldn't be there to catch me. No, I'd made the pigheaded decision and I'd have to follow it through.

Iggy was busy, thinking and trying to understand. It'd been hours since the three left, Nudge and Seth with a tag-along Angel, and yet he was still on the topic before. "He turned into a WHAT?" Sighing, I cracked my knuckles and grabbed the remote on the table. Staring at the fuzzy television screen, I rolled my eyes. Where was Cake Boss when you needed it?

"Listen, Seth must be from the School too. I mean, we _know_ they experimented with things other than birds. But question is, how did _he_ escape, when the six of us couldn't without the help of an inside man?" I didn't bother mentioning his name, though I thought it loud and clear. Jeb. How long had it been since we escape from the School with him, only to be betrayed not too much later? How long had it been since we'd burnt the place to cinders, trying to save those mutated children still left to save? I shivered, remembering the entire scene.

Flames were licking the clouds, already dirty gray from all of the smoke and ash. Wood that would've given even giants nasty splinters showered down from the wreckage, lodging into the soot-filled grass. None of us had been harmed, and the people inside the building had been given warning. Give us an antidote, give us the others, give us our _freedom_, and you'll be left alone. We'll burn the place with you somewhere far away. No one had listened, and almost no one had survived. The few others we had gotten back were already close to dying, an antidote not found and not given.

Shaking my head, I began to pet Iggy's hair and look out towards Fang. He'd disappeared, as usually. The guy had been even more mysterious ever since his part time job, which had gotten us this sweet condo along with a couple Gs of "borrowed" money from the School. Eh, you win some and lose some. For once we were winning. Of course, we still were on the down-low, considering there were more School bases than McDonald's in this country. And that was saying a lot, considering us Americans and our eating habits.

"Hey, it's a shame we got waken up so quickly." I turned my head to Iggy, who was finally beginning to speak about something other than Seth. I looked at him in puzzlement, then mentally smacked myself and let out a small grunt. It was hard having a blind guy for a boyfriend, but I would keep trying for him. Ah, I felt so bad pitying him, especially since the number one thing Iggy hated was pity. Besides the song Friday by Rebecca Black of course. I realize now that by thinking about this, I'm endorsing a horrible song to millions of mutants world wide. That is, if there are any living mutants other than us. Not to say we weren't slowly deteriorating - I mean we can't even fly! But, eh, besides the point.

"Cause then we could've continued." Smirking, I ran my hands through his hair and kissed his ear. It moved slightly, which gave me a bit of a startle but I began to coo into it. They were soft words, gibberish mostly with a bit of what I hoped was English and not swear words in Japanese. I was trying to carry a tune, but despite my bird transfusion I was as tone-deaf as a sock. Actually, even a sock could sing better than me. But despite other people's views, I thought I sounded as good as a Max could.

He took my head in his hands, making me lean over and wiggle a bit from my afore comfy position. Kissing my forehead, he smiled up at me and blinked. I looked into his eyes, and even though knowing he wouldn't see it I winked. Then, we continued to kiss. I wish I could say that I felt bad about forgetting about the others, and how I was the leader and I was supposed to take care of the two – if I must say three – missing. But right now, I was being kissed by Iggy.

It's enough to take your whole life-threatening situation off of your mind, you know?

* * *

Seth

I don't know which was louder; the sound of my heart beating or the electronic beeping. Angel had tried to crack me, and with an unknown part of my brain I knew she had gone easy. That the interrogation wasn't all she could do. Angel had other means of getting the information, she didn't use them. It wasn't her cold gaze which penetrated me, or the curved and devilish smile. She wasn't using her fullest abilities, and that's what scared me. That there was so much more Angel could do than just ask questions - that she could steal the answers right from you. Her means of doing it weren't exactly crystal clear, but I knew they were supernatural. But it comforted it as well. Because despite her initial approach she trusted me a bit.

And I'd completely betrayed that trust in five seconds.

Nudge had tried to wait for my answer, but the hurt in her eyes was already too much for me. Angel was in front of me, squirming in the dirt and whimpering loudly. People around us quickened their pace and immediately made a path around the scene, and I saw one flip open their phone and dial three numbers. Even though the tracker kept sending shocks through my head, trying to tell my brain to kick it into full gear and head back to the circus, I scooped up Angel and took Nudge's hand. I didn't want to leave them without explanation. I didn't want to leave them at all, but it seems I've ruined chances of that. So now all I could do was hope Nudge would hear my words and understand, so that when I did have to leave, she'd know it was for her. I wasn't leaving because I hated her, Angel, or any of them. I was leaving because a couple of freaks wanted me back in the freak show, and they'd go to any end to get that to happen.

"Seth, what _is_ it?" She pulled her hand out from mine, and stared at me with those big brown eyes of hers. I shifted, tears falling on my arm, and I couldn't tell if they were mine but it didn't matter. Angel was still convulsing and Nudge was still pressuring me. Everything felt wrong. The hair on my neck bristled, even though I knew neither of them meant any harm. I felt like pawing at Nudge's face, trying to get the worry lines out of her forehead and the smile back onto her mouth. But that wouldn't work. I was too far gone to even be considered a friend anymore. I hadn't told her about the ID tag, or even about the possibilities. The possibility that psychos could come and take her Flock apart if I didn't leave. That psychos wanted my neck and by giving them that, she'd be left alone. That I would do it for her. Generally girls liked being told that, but now? Something told me Nudge wouldn't take it.

Placing Angel down, I felt the itch to transform. While struggling to fight it, I summoned all that was left of my strength. Yeah, guys are supposed to be macho and they aren't supposed to cry. Did that mean I was a girl to be weaker and much more emotional? Or perhaps I was just more in touch with my feminine side? Though it didn't feel like enough strength to back me up, I looked back at Nudge. Her eyes were brimming with tears, and I really wanted to wipe them away. I really did. But in this sort of situation, I couldn't. Does it make me a guy by wanting to wipe away a girl's tears, bring back her smile and radiant face? Does it make me inhuman to split up from the girl I loved, hurting us both while trying to do the right thing? The answers were so lost, so blurry that I couldn't even think again before I spoke.

"A tracker. Nudge, it's a tracker." Seeing the shock on her face, I decided I couldn't hold it in. I couldn't hurt this girl without telling her. "I'm so sorry Nudge. Nudge, I l-" Turning away, I gritted my teeth and bit my lip. It was happening - so much stronger with the pain of the shocks. Feeling my skin rip apart at my fingers to accept claws, and my legs crunching and toes squeezing to form paws, I let out a bloodcurdling yell. I launched backwards, my back arching and skin sprouting fur. I placed my half-paws onto my eyes, the irises becoming smaller and my vision changing ten fold. Whether it became better or worse didn't matter. All I could feel was the pain. As I finalized the transformation and turned to bound away from the area, I couldn't help but think.

Did Nudge hear that last part?

* * *

Nudge

Have you ever felt that distant pulling on your heart, like someone tied a rope around your body and ran off with the rope in hand? That's how I felt as Seth ran away from me, leaving me in a situation I couldn't even comprehend. I know I'm supposed to be the cheery and ditzy one as well as the comic relief, but dammit! Angel was supposed to be all cutesy and innocent, Iggy was supposed to be a poor blind guy, Max was supposed to be our leader! And we were supposed to be dead. So we weren't what we were supposed to be - big whoop! Can't I live my life the way I want to, out of judgment and restrictions? But the reality is, we impose these sort of things upon the others in our Flock, and then completely disregard their intentions for us. Angel isn't cutesy and innocent, Iggy isn't anything but snappy and blind, Max is wavering on leadership. The Gasman doesn't have any other purpose than being Angel's sister, but he's decided to live his own life. Take up mechanics. Actually go to seminars in college, disguised as some fourteen year-old. And Fang? He's got a job! For all we know, he has a girlfriend! And, sorry to burst your bubble, but we're not dead. We're as alive and kicking as any other mutant flock - or, to say, any other teenagers with complications.

But right now, I felt like someone had killed off everybody and we were as alive and kicking as Michael Jackson.

Seth hadn't given warning. He just left. No explanation. How was I supposed to make something out of that? Just a roar-muffled sentence and a dash into the greenery. I tried to swallow down my tears as I realized I was the only one in control right now. Or with the most control. Iggy and Max couldn't save us, and neither could Fang or the Gasman. No, even Angel was tied up in her own matters currently, convulsing and trying to regain her senses. So he'd left. What could I do but move on? Sparing one glance back, I fly off towards home.

Feeling the wind pulling you up slightly is hard to describe. Think of a belly flop into the waves; how it tickles and sends your stomach somersaulting. Now multiply it ten fold, so intense and pleasurable you can't help but laugh. Without thinking I laugh, I laugh so hard that I almost cry. Actually, I do cry. I cry so hard that I can't breathe, that the laughing has now stopped and all I can do is cry. I feel empty, feel empty because I'm crying so much. It's hard to laugh when I feel like I should cry.

I wanted to smile and forget, I told myself I'd do just that. But there was no way I could bottle up my shock. I don't know if I really loved Seth. I'd barely spent time with him, and he'd barely spent enough time with me. How could we love each other? God, this had been lour first day together! But I still felt close to him, like I HAVE to feel something for him. I didn't want to go cry in a corner and think suicidal thoughts. My feelings weren't actually THAT strong. I didn't want to go and cry in a corner, or obsess over every second of him. I wasn't like that. I was a bit more carefree than I should be, but in this case it could be pretty useful. I did want to think, though.

Angel was still trembling, knocked out cold with a nightmare in her heart. I couldn't imagine what she was going through that caused all this shaking, all of her tears which came out of closed eyes. She wasn't so heavy that I felt burdened, but I could feel her presence. I was low on fuel, already getting sleepy and dry-throated. The wind kept whipping against my neck, sending chills down my spine and making my voice hoarse. Usually it was warm and sunny around our home, but now? Now was different. I realized how cliche it was that the weather matched my mood. Scowling, I swooped down a bit so that the altitude wouldn't get too harsh. And the worst part was that I had no choice but to keep running, keep going. Cracking my neck, I beat my wings and pull apart the clouds. They look like cotton candy, and if I could eat cloud, I would. But if I could eat cloud, would it even taste like cotton candy? Personally I think that it would think like ice cream, not cotton candy, because - ugh, here I go droning on again. God, maybe I am the ditzy idiot.

Condo in sight, I sweep down and close my wings tight around me to accelerate. Angel whines, but I ignore her and continue to plummet. What was going through my head right then? Dreams of mashed potatoes with gravy and smoked salmon, even though the tastes clashed. A quick rummage to pick out a nice outfit for tomorrow. Thinking of what Max and Iggy were doing the entire time I was gone - and then blushing in spite of myself. Wondering how anyone would like doing those sort of things, which again caused me to blush abashedly. Thinking of where Fang is, because he sure as heck isn't at the condo if Max and Iggy were doing what I think they were. Then, I went on to ponder what type of job he even had anyways. I couldn't help but think of what was going on inside of Angel's head, and it caused me to shiver just to remember what happened to us that would cause her fragile body to shake so much.

And, oh yeah, Seth was probably running around in that mess of thoughts, too.

"Nudge." Max bolted out of the living room, along with Iggy. The tousled hair and bright red hickeys on her neck suggested they were getting intimate again. Those two, it's like all they can do is well, _do it._ If I hadn't been as confused or distraught as I was now, I would've let out a shrill cry and flown away while giggling. But, I couldn't do that because Angel was in my arms and still trying to regain consciousness. And I was still confused and distraught, so, you know. It's not like a girl can summon up some hidden power and make things rewind before such horrible things happened to her - much less a mutant girl. Sore, I felt a bit uncomfortable interrupting them, but there is so much I can really feel bad for. Top priority right now was feeling bad for me.

"Max..." I sniffled, putting Angel in her hands and running off into my room. She'd seen me cry plenty of times before. She'd seen me cry because of family, and seen me cry when we blew up the School. So I didn't have it in me to be cold and merciless like the rest of them while we completely destroyed someone's life work, even though they'd done such horrible things to me. I just wasn't as vengeful, I mean, without them we wouldn't have met each other. Max doesn't feel that way, I suppose, even with Iggy around to "comfort" her. I just knew something felt dirt about crying because of love-induced grief. I felt like the tears were hollow, that all of their value had been sucked away the minute I let them fall. That the more I buried my face into my pillow, breathing in feathers and fabric, I became a more despicable being. It wasn't exactly depression, it was a bit more than that.

It was Seth.


	9. Understanding

Lynn

The first building I walked into smelled like liquor. I'd never drunk alcohol before, but it was easily a smell I could recognize. The men who worked under the ringmaster, his clowns as I called them, would often be drinking on the job and get high with all sorts of beer and whiskey. I shuddered, remembering the few poor souls who had a heavy drinker for a watchman. They'd be beaten to a pulp, or put down so often that it seemed natural. But now, in this new building, it felt besides natural. Men were slumped over their tables, and for those still awake they were too busy whistling at bartenders or hooting at waitresses. A young woman came up and asked me if I wanted a seat, which I readily took. There weren't too many questioning eyes in this place, which was its only redeeming quality. At least it helped me stay meshed in between everyone else, who was just as raggedy or odd as myself.

"What are you thinking? A wine, perhaps?" I shook my head at the waitress, looking over at the flickering lights on the television. There was a soccer tournament going on, a local one judging from the clumsy movements. I didn't know much about urban lifestyle except what was drilled into my brain beforehand. The ringmaster had not taught us anything, but Seth was willing to share. He'd actually lived with humans before being mutated, so he knew not all of them were cruel. I still didn't accept his judgment, because it seemed like his trust and kindness was just a result of naivety. I really liked Seth, but God knows what could be happening to him considering he was so careless and gullible. Looking around at the men around me, I searched for signs of his familiar hair. Not a single person had the same hair as him, with it's spotted look and varying shades of brown and gold. Pulling back my own hair, I peeled off a rubber band from the napkin in front of me and used it to tie back the red spikes.

Walking out of the building, I continued down the sidewalk. Concrete was a common substance to me, as well as the wrought iron and metal that was used to cage me. The sewers had brick and sometimes one could sneak a glance at rubber, which I saw on every automobile. I knew enough about streets to hold my own; don't walk in the road and stay on the sidewalk, don't let anybody touch you, and if they did send them to the ER. Oh, hospitals were also something I was aware of. I hadn't had the chance to use my strength, since I'd been locked up tight for almost all of my life. I had some strength, despite my appearance. To one person I might've looked like an average-sized Asian teenager with auburn hair, but I was a bit more than that. I mean, not everybody goes walking around everyday trying to figure out who's a mutant and who isn't. At least that gave me the upper hand with the advantage of surprise. The best I could think of when idealizing fighting was football. I'd never seen it before, but Seth had described it as barbaric and rough, a sport that was used to prove somebody an alpha male and boost their entire pack's reputation with the honor of victory. He'd often thought of it as a tasteless triumph because of the cruel intentions of some players, but I couldn't help but find it interesting.

Humans seemed to be more animal-like than they'd admit.

Leaning against a lamp post, I look out into the street. There are still so many cars out, even though it's so late. I try to read the time, but the numbers won't associate themselves with the Roman numerals on the grand clock above me. Sighing, I look at another building. This one has a large design on it, graffiti from the looks of it. There are stories told in the art, peoples names written out in the spray paint. I know that most humans believe those without employment are disgusting and filthy people, poor and unwanted. But, is it so hard to look past stereotypes and think that maybe these people too had lives? I look back at the men who were knocked out with their drool slathering the table in the other building I was in. They had lives. I'd thought only about first impressions, that there might not be more to the people I saw. They might've just lost a loved one, and wanting to forget they drowned themselves in such alcohol. I wasn't even human, and I could see more than mankind could.

"Fay, thanks for staying so late. You really didn't have to."

"I wanted to." The silhouettes on the glass door were each chatting, exchanging their goodbyes. With a jingle, one man stepped out of the building. His olive skin glowed in the lamplight, a grocery bag hung over his shoulder with one hand in a cocky fashion. He's wearing a navy collared shirt and some black jeans. I try not to stare, but he is different from the men I've seen before. His black hair is long, almost shoulder length. Looking closely, I see it's tied up in the back so then it's not in his way. Something about him feels familiar, even though I've never met him before. Without even realizing it, I'm already walking up to him. He doesn't even notice me until I'm five seconds from him, his head whipping around. Stopping in my tracks, I try to remember what I was doing. Pinching myself, I turn away from the man and walk towards the first building I'd entered. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and just as I'm about to flip the hand's body, I turn and look. It's him again.

"I know you." He sounds certain about it, nothing like a questioning sentence. I feel a tugging at head, and I get an instant headache. My heart starts hurting again, and as I fall onto the concrete I see the man bend down to make sure I'm okay. He didn't seem like the caring type just a few minutes earlier. Sniffing, I smell something I hadn't bothered to notice before. He smells like onions and tomatoes, but there's something besides that. The man, Fay I guess, is still leaning over and supporting me. As I struggle to stand up, I feel my heartbeat increasing. Because not only does he smell like onions and tomatoes, but he also smells musky and like powdered sugar as well. And there's something else that I smell while he's placing my arm around his shoulder and speaking words I don't bother listening to.

Seth.

* * *

Angel

I wake up in Max's arms, my nightmare having disappeared halfway through my unconsciousness. The remainder of my sleep was like watching a fuzzy television set; I didn't see anything but black and white, didn't hear anything but static. Just waking up made me happy, because I knew the horrible memories couldn't haunt me in my waking hours. Iggy wasn't at his usual perch next to Max, instead looking at Nudge's room. He couldn't see necessarily, but he always did this creepy thing where he turned and looked in a specific direction with concentration. His eyes, though a pale and blind blue, looked focused and actually looked like he was using them when he did something like that. Looking around, I spied the TV tuned in to Cake Boss, Buddy leaning over some pastry masterpiece and all the while screaming the crap out of Stretch. It must've been an old episode; Stretch had been replaced by Maurizio. Max had flown us to the Hoboken area before, and we stood right in front of Carlos' Bakery. Only Fang went in though, buying us some piscatti for the trip back. We'd been as close as possible then, like a family. We were the tight-knit Flock we used to be.

Not the confused kids we were now.

"Still not out?" Max looked anxiously over at Iggy, meanwhile laying me down on the couch. Their feathers were scattered all over the cushions, with tawny and white plumage stuck in between. Sneezing, I finally unfolded my own wings. They'd felt strained from being hidden the entire time, and then even worse since I'd been jerking violently for quite a bit. That weird phantom limb feeling seemed to be happening during my nightmare, where I knew everything was okay but I still felt like something was there. That the School, the monsters who worked there, were still after us. They were still hurting us. The graphic beating Nudge had taken was still burned into my eyes, even though I knew she was just a couple of feet away from me in her room, safe if not happy.

"She's been quiet for a while now, but no, she doesn't seem to be getting out for a long time." Max is sighing, and she walks over to Nudge's door. Whispering something into the wood, she knocks gently against it. Nudge doesn't respond. Throwing her hands up, Max walks into our kitchenette and starts rummaging through the fridge. Throwing out some stuff Fang had given us to eat, she seemed to be more upset each time she took out a piece of food. Max probably wasn't used to it all, not yet. Even after two years of all of our grief, she still had issues handling us. It only made sense. She had her own relationship to worry about, and each of us had changed. We weren't the Flock we used to be. Fang and his part-time job seemed to be the first unbalance that threw her off. Then it was Gazzy going to college seminars, and Nudge becoming distant. It wasn't like we needed Seth to add just another problem for her. Iggy walked towards her, taking a knife and chopping up some onions and tomatoes.

I lay down and listened to the show as it changes to Sister Wives, not listening to the theme song but thinking about our strange intruder. Seth had only been here for one day, and he'd created such a mess of things. He was like a walking earthquake, and someone just needed to pull the trigger and watch the entire world collapse in on them. Max was off to one side, watching Iggy cook while trying to figure out how he could manage it and she couldn't. We all knew Max couldn't cook - even Max knew she couldn't cook. But somehow, the undeniable knowledge didn't stop her from attempting. One night, she tried serving us stir-fry, and we all wanted to forget how that turned out. Fang was the lucky one. Somehow, Max doesn't seem to care if he doesn't eat her food, it only matters if we do. Eh, they had a complicated relationship. One which I loved watching, that is, until she and Iggy hooked up.

"Angel, what even happened wherever you guys went?" Apparently since Max knew she would be no help in the kitchen, she took to asking me questions. Looking at Iggy, I closed my eyes and thought for a few seconds. It didn't take much effort to get the message through to Max's head. _Max, he had a tracker._ Max looked down at me, with a look of horror on her face. Catching myself, I remembered the same look on Seth's face. _I don't think he knew it was there._ Iggy was too busy chopping up vegetables like some sort of veggie-murderer to notice we weren't talking. It was really rare to have a single second without a single person in the Flock talking. We just had so much to talk about. I mean, we're mutant children, like some sort of X-Men comic. There was a lot going on in our lives. Mostly pertaining to people trying to hunt us down, but, what could one do? At least we knew we were loved.

Max jumped over and into the couch, leaning into me so then we wouldn't be heard. "A tracker? Angel, are you sure?" _Yes, of course I'm sure. Have you ever had need to doubt me? _Max shook her head, and I knew that in a regular situation she wouldn't have been speechless. She would've said something witty or cunning, and then Iggy would've pitched in with some sort of Yo Mama joke. At least, that's what I was hoping for. But Iggy was busy being our own little housewife, and Max was preoccupied. Just checking to see what she was thinking, I almost screamed out in protest. She was actually thinking of moving? But we finally had a home, a place to actually live. Was it really fair for her to make us move because of one dude with a tracker? He was gone now, and the tracker was only on in the park. We were safe. I didn't want to move. _I don't want to move.  
_

"Angel, you understand that this is the best we can do right now. It's either we move, or we hunt down Seth. Now, which one sounds easier to you? I mean, it isn't hard to find a massive cat lurking around a park, but really think for a second. Are we in any condition to be looking around for some guy?" I can't help but stare at her wings, knowing that's what she means by condition. The only way that I'd known was because I read her mind. I'd told Nudge, but hadn't gotten word to Gazzy yet. I don't think he'd take the fact we were all dying well. Were we really all dying? Is that why suddenly our oldest were dropping down in the skies, like poisoned birds splattering against the earth? I didn't want to think that Max was dying, or Fang. Despite how much I'd matured, I still loved Max. I was still her Angel, her favorite. I wanted things to stay that way. I didn't want her to die off with Fang and Iggy, leaving the remaining three of us alone. The final fact registered in my head. If we were dying by age, I'd be the last to die. I'd be waiting for my death...all alone.

A small creak comes from south of us, and turning our heads we see caramel skin flash out from behind the white-painted door. Nudge's hair is a mess, and her eyes are puffy and read. Her entire face is blotchy, with streaks down to the chin from the tears. Max almost gets up to hug her, and let her know things are okay. She wasn't used to sappy stuff like that, but we really needed a bit more adhesive to keep each other together. And if it called for sappiness, then sappiness it may be. Nudge stares her down, looks at me and then towards Iggy. He's half way through opening a bag of frozen croutons, his pale eyes staring her right in the eye. Playing with her thumbs, she looks at all the of us before speaking. A hoarse sound comes instead of her usual cheery and soprano voice. For some reason, that makes things seem even gloomier.

"No, we don't have to do either."

* * *

Gazzy

It was completely different learning about bombs than just blindly going through it. No offense intended towards Iggy. But it was even more exciting to learn about bombs from guys who defused them for a living like twenty years ago. So it didn't make me feel like a nerd saying that I was upset to leave the classroom. My seminars usually lasted about two hours, and I never talked during them. I was too busy taking notes all the time. I wasn't a notes person, but I had trouble remembering everything that was being said over the course of two hours. And then after my classes Fang picked me up and drove me someplace to eat before dropping me off at home.

And the only problem here was, Fang wasn't outside waiting for me as usual. And I couldn't fly. So, yeah. I totally thinking...dammit.

Thinking to myself at how weird and stupid Fang was, I walked don the sidewalk towards the bus stop. Everybody seemed to be getting distant ever since Lion-O appeared in our lives. And that was only for hardly a full day! I'd woken up to some stranger in the house, and I tried to act really chill but, I was related to Angel. I could be a control freak at times, too. Things were feeling like a see-saw, and I kept on bumping my butt against the ground. Taking out a pack of tropical flavored gum, I hesistated to start chewing on it. Fang would've killed me if he saw me smacking slobber all over "edible rubber". I shake my head. Fang wasn't here. So I didn't need to follow his rules.

I held my thumb out to grab a taxi, immediately paying the driver twenty bucks to take me to our apartment complex. If only I were in Chicago. Then I might've had a chance at playing in the Cash Cab. Opening the taxi door, I spat out my gum onto the concrete and walking through the revolving doors. I always liked these ones, where you could just spin around for hours and run out to puke your guts up. Of course, puking wasn't fun, and I guess that the annoyed stares the other people who needed to use the door gave me, but eh. I really enjoyed making other people seriously annoyed. I mean, I'd done that for years. Just in different ways. I was reluctant to take out my iPod shuffle, because I never knew what song would come up. We only had one to share between Nudge and Angel and I, and lemme say one thing. They are BELIEBERS.

Everything felt like it was going dangerously fast. Too fast, actually. Tapping my foot to the elevator music, I tried whistling. I never had the chance to practice, especially not in an elevator. Someone would always come inside with me, on a phone call with some sort of client. I would want to rip the phone out of their hands, or the Bluetooth or whatever, throw it on the ground and yell in their face. But I was kind, polite even. So instead I just let one rip intentionally, as was my discerning trait, and turned to them. Oh, excuse me. That's what a burrito does to you. Whistling to Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal, I pressed on our floor number and thought of what Iggy was doing. Probably cooking or "interacting" with Max. Angel was still with Nudge, and whatever his name was, tagging along for the thrill of the ride. Of course she left her older bro to fend for himself, what with the Max and Iggy intimacy. Didn't they find it odd dating each other? I mean, we were a family. So maybe it was like dating your cousin. Gross. So what was I left to do? Play Monopoly solitaire-style.

Whoopdie-diddly-doo.

Stepping into the hallway, I walk to our room. Picking the look with my cellphone's antenna - yes, it was one of those antiques - I walked into the room. It was like the usual setup, with Max and Angel on the couch and Nudge nearby. Except, it was completely quiet for a second which was rare. No one even noticed me coming in. That goes to show how important I am in this messed up family. Nudge seemed extremely upset, but it was still very normal. Her and her moody things. She was like this when she watched Kanye West make Taylor Swift cry. "Just because you're dying doesn't mean you can monopolize my opinion!" Dropping my phones, which should've shattered and given me the chance to get a new cell, but insisted to survive and disturb me mentally, I turned to Iggy. He was making salad, which according to Oprah was now a very manly thing. Turning back, I saw the others staring at me. So now they notice me. Yup, everything was fine. I just found out Max was frigging dying, that's all. Fang hadn't come to pick me up. Cat Dude was nowhere to be seen, and DAMN! Nudge was a complete mess.

Perfectly, awesomely normal.


	10. TBC Gratitude

Author's Note

I wanted to say thanks to everybody who is reading To Be Clipped for reviewing and just visiting each chapter. You guys following my updates and stuff, it makes me feel pretty awesome. I haven't been leaving little side-comments on my chapters because I think it kind of ruins the feel, at least for this story. I wanted to make it different from my other ones. So, I wanted to clarify on a couple of things that the reviews were asking about, since I wasn't able to do it in my other chapters...

**pretty-little-liar18: Being human is so damn hard... huh? **

It is kind of confusing, now that I read over it. I don't know if that's what you meant, but it does kind of seem puzzling. I mean, Seth is a mutant, not a human. I think what I meant when typing that was that he felt being human compared to his animal side is really different, and all these conflicting emotions he feels during that is so different from the instinctual ones that he has as a cheetah. I had made it clear from the second chapter that he and Nudge were going to be an item, but I didn't want it to be one of those straight-forward relationships. The ones where you are reading and the characters immediately bond, no problems or harbored feelings for anything else. It's basically making true love too easy, which from experience one should know is completely different. True love is strong, but one emotion will eventually overshadow another, even if they're equal. Have you ever had a really off day, and then you do something fun and no matter how hard you try you can't help but laugh or smile? That's basically your happiness replacing your grumpy attitude. So Seth, I guess in this love affair whatever, can't get over those lost emotions and referring back to my example, is trying his hardest not smile. I hope that didn't just confuse you even more...I am a very oddly spoken person.

Um...I think that's it for the comments.

Also, I wanted to put a little thing about how much I changed the characters and adapted the plot to my liking. For some, this may not seem like a real fanfic because it has almost nothing to do with the School or the books themselves. Just the same characters, and even then I changed them up a ton. Well, this is taking place two years after the first book, and I'm pretty much deleting all of the stuff which happens in the consequent books. DELETE. There. In this arc, the School was destroyed basically mercilessly by the Flock, and because most of the research was kept in the destroyed facility the School disbanded and subgroups were created. The circus I suppose could be called one of the subgroups. More on that as I write more.

As for the characters, a lot changes in two years. I had people grow taller, develop more emotions, and not be so friendly and I got rid of the whole everybody agrees on everything Max says. They seem a little more distant from each other, and this is probably because of a few factors. I was going to implement them later, but instead I'm just adding references and these references would be hard to understand if you didn't know the factors. Number one, Max and Iggy got together a bit after Max rejects Fang. Why does he ask her out first of all, and why does she even reject him? Well, I hate the Max and Fang pairing. Also, since I found all of the characters in Maximum Ride were too easy to read, I wanted to add a little more spice. Because of his confession and following rejection, Fang tries to isolate himself even more from Max and the Flock by getting a job. However, he is seen by everyone as to having gotten the job so as to get them the condo. Factor two; Angel grew up faster and her control freak side budded into some bizarre flower. I made Angel a control freak because I found that in the books she ended up finding herself superior to everyone else, and I thought that James Patterson shouldn't just leave things at that. So Angel's new side was born. Also, I made her taller to the point she looks the same age as Nudge so that I could include a seduction part. I just felt that her devilish side should be amped up, and seduction was the first thing which came to mind.

Nudge also lost her cutesy girly-girl attitude. Most girls as they mature get rid of bright pink nail polish and sequins to have them replaced with more mature or tomboyish items. I felt that since everybody grows super fast, since they're mutants, that they should also mature faster. So in the span of two years, Nudge should be a tomboy. Making Nudge a tomboy also referred to my overall outlook on her. I always thought she'd be a much more interesting character if she were a tomboy who had a very fragile side to her. So, that's what I did to Nudge - aged her up, and almost completely altered her personality. Even her talkative side is gone, because everybody's very distant from each other. As for Gazzy, I made him a pyromaniac and gave him a thirteen year-old look on things. He rarely says swears though, because I felt in essence Gazzy wouldn't be somebody who swears too often. He has that whole skater boy aura, except he's a nerd in every way as well. As Iggy went on to form a relationship with Max, he and Gazzy seperated giving way to a closer bond between Gazzy and Fang. So I made them a bit more than acquaintances, which was basically what they were.

Max, I threw away her perfect composure static characteristics and replaced them with those of a real leader. In the books, Max never cries and she is always absolute in everything she does. I hate that. How many people face death without wavering an inch? That's why I always put her and Harry Potter side by side, because they have the same boring take on things. I might die, but I'm going to do this anyways. So, I made Max a bit uncertain about the Flock's condition, kept her overprotective side and made sure that she was always being opposed by somebody. The Flock rarely has fights in the series. I'm making it basically a speech tournament in this fanfic - everybody has their own view, and people fight to protect those precious opinions. Max is also weakened - she's unable to fly. What happens when Max is unable to fly? Well, she is brought down to earth. She has a relationship with Iggy. She's going to be treasuring that. She also can't control everything in the Flock, and she has to let people be individual and not the supporting character likenesses they are. So she's looser, and she has more time to enjoy herself. Max still has her hotheadedness and just a little less determination.

And last of all, the plot. My plot is completely different from the series, obviously. There's the main plot of Seth and Nudge being together and fighting for their relationship. There are plenty of subplots, as well. The older members of the Flock losing their ability of flight. Everybody growing distant, with Fang being unheard of most of the time and Max and him having a sort of tense relationship. Then there are the subplots of Angel and Gazzy actually developing their personalities, the fact that everyone's facing guilt from eliminating the School, and another subplot of getting rid of the circus (which plays a bigger role than the other subplots). If I can't finish up all the subplots in this story, then I'm sorry. It's alot to play upon, and I was totally void of the fact that there would be so much in for me when I created such depth to...everything.

Anyways, thanks to anyone who reads this, and I will be posting the next chapter as soon as possible. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to post them here! I included a super short extra in here as a treat for anybody who bothered reading this side note. It's basically just how Angel sees some specific members in the Flock. I was bored.

Oh! I need to add one last quick thing; the thing with Angel's whole heart attack thing in chapters 7 and 8 is going to be explained probably in the next chapter. Hopefully I'll get to it by then.

**-Somewhat Sentient**

* * *

EXTRA - Angel

I've always thought boys were weird. Not impossible to read, it's just that when you did understand them you didn't really expect a whole lot of...whatever most boys think. Boys are smart, of course. It's just some of them, you really begin to wonder. Iggy is plain as anyone can see a bit perverted and very snappy and blunt. He won't play around with you, tell you that your hair is cute this way or that you're really nice. He'll talk crap about you in front of your face, which is at times good for self-development, but other times you just want to smack the smack-talk out of him. Fang is Fang. You see him come and go, but you never see emotions on his face or hear his stomach rumbling or watch him yawn. Maybe Fang doesn't need to sleep or eat, and maybe Fang doesn't even need to poop. But Fang will always be doing something. He'll be out of the house at his job, writing on his abnormally long blog, or maybe sipping a cup of tea while reading about the war in Iraq. He's calm and collected, and his personality is very flat even to people close to him. And as for Gazzy?

I refrain from saying anything since he's my brother.


	11. Survival

Lynn

I hadn't told him to leave me be, or to stop carrying me. In a weird way, I knew that he'd be of more help while gentle. Like he would give out secrets much more easily this way. I wasn't taking advantage of him – I was saving Seth. Fay seemed serious still, his dark eyes glinting a suave purple at night. Whoa…did I just use suave as an adjective for a color? Why did I feel so drawn to him, especially since I loved Seth? Clearing my head, I listen only to his footsteps in sync with my own hobbled ones, and my heart slows down. See? Nothing wrong. I knew who I felt for. Even though I had to repeat his name over and over just to remember his warmth, I still felt the same way. It was Seth. Seth.

"You haven't spoken." I tried to add a hint of scorn to my voice, but I still sounded feeble. My arms and legs itched, the cloth I'd found was unbearably uncomfortable and felt like I was rubbing sandpaper against my skin. Fay seemed to not care about how he felt in these clothes, and I'd hoped I'd grow accustomed to their strangeness. I still haven't. Well, Fay was a normal person, despite his too perfect looks and cool nature. We were completely different; and for some reason, no matter what I thought of that's the conclusion my mind kept wandering back to. He turns his head slightly, an attempted smile on his face.

"I know." Turning back around, he adjusted my arm on his long shoulder while I fumed. _He's so annoying_, I thought. But my heart was still beating so loudly. Even though it was sarcastic, his smile and his voice made me feel light-headed. I looked into the pitch black night, the fog settling on the horizon sinking towards us. I already felt sleepy, though I'd only been traveling for a bit more than a day. I didn't want to fall asleep, because I'd seem weak and fragile. Fay would misunderstand. I'm stronger than he'd think. I had scars and bruises to remind me of that, memories I could never un-see, and moments of life which were cut out of the picture to remind me of that. And…

I've been through more than he could imagine.

"What's your name?" He sounded slightly nervous, and I knew he hid most of his feelings far away as a precaution. I knew this trick. It seemed like he was warming up to you, but was only distancing himself. By asking about me, he kept me busy answering instead of him asking. _Shit,_ I muttered. I should've asked the first question. Letting the sound of men shouting nearby take me away from the situation, I answered simply to avoid any more interrogation. I couldn't give him anything to have on me. My thoughts were blossoming and dissolving almost spontaneously, grasping an idea and then letting it burst into flight without consequences in mind. Where was he taking me? I was disorganized, everything turning from one unconnected idea to another. Was there food there? Would it just be the two of us there?

"Lynn. They call me Lynn."

"Lynn? It's an okay name." I'd already winced in preparation for something bad, as if he'd hit me just because my name was Lynn. I hated that name with all my heart, because the men in the circus gave it to me. The same men who'd taken me away from my mother in a different way than which first comes to mind. Lynn, meaning something about water. A premonition that I would always be haunted by the death of my mother, always be in the clutches of the circus, always be that frilly damsel in distress. Using my free hand to punch him, I felt pulled back into his orbit. There was an irresistible force pulling me towards him, the gravity he exerted willing me to listen to him speak, and keep my mouth shut without questioning it. And though I'd fallen for his trap, I was okay with that. The name Seth was still burned in my head. I loved Seth. He was kind, sincere, and loyal. He'd always be by my side through thick and thin.

But he'd never called my name okay.

Is that supposed to mean something to me?

* * *

Iggy

I suppose most people don't understand me when I tell them that just because I'm blind, it doesn't mean I'm deaf. Okay, so I can't see, but when did that equation mean I'm handicapped in any and every way possible? I may not be able to see, but I can do everything else with a proficiency most Olympic gold medalists strive for. And my hearing is especially well adapted to the, ever so kind, family of mine. When Gazzy is saying what he's writing out loud, I tell him that and he says I sound like some old guy, quote on quote. When Angel is crying, which doesn't happen very often anymore, I tell her that and she begins crying harder. Nudge and Fang I never have to talk to, since they're both so damn quiet. And whenever Max is muttering about my bad qualities and I tell her, well, she responds in a way I probably will be forever scarred by.

But when almost all of them are screaming? I chop tomatoes and just _shut up._

"Listen. I can understand a small secret, like Max cheating on Iggy because it's SO much more probable. But people DYING? I mean…dude!"

"You're cheating on me?" I shoot the question at Max, obviously attempting to elicit some good teasing from these tough times. I'm still turned away from her, but I feel her gaze trying to break skin just as well as a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick would. After about a second of awkward silence, everyone begins yelling again. I hear plenty of words; shut the front door, why don't you just kill me, Seth, and rainbow asparagus. Okay, not so much the last one. I'm so busy trying to follow their rollercoaster conversation that I lose track of what I'm doing. My knife barely misses the opportunity to chop of my thumb, only brushing it and causing something not even worthy of a band-aid. Grunting, I put away from knife before I have the urge to stab someone. Actually, sketch that. Before that urge actually grows stronger.

Grabbing my phone, I touch the screen and flip through all my different categories. Music, videos, games, games, games. Why do I have three different game categories? After a brief game of Angry Birds, I delete two and click into my Miscellaneous category. Flipping through about a hundred free applications I got from some suspicious site that I stumbled upon, I turn back to the idiots. Still screaming. Raising my volume to the highest I could, I place it in a speaker stand and touch play on my air horn app.

Turning to face everybody, I fight to keep a smile off my face and clear my throat while fighting for attention. "So, I hate to disperse this wonderful family bonding session, but we've got a bit of a bigger problem than some hurt feelings."

"Like what?" Nudge, for as innocent and cute as she is, looks at me with cold eyes and a scowl on her face. I can imagine her pain, although it seems much simpler with my thought process. Her Romeo ran way because he had some tracking tick or whatever. But Juliet won't let anyone hurt him, with an M-16 in her hands and a stick of dynamite in her mouth, she is ready for anything and everything. And then Max, the evil stepmother, steps into the picture and tries to do exactly the forbidden - pulling out her magic wand and zapping Romeo's butt while sneering the entire. Oh, but that's not all; her stepsister even tried tormenting him with questions and seducing him, which should've been impossible because she was many years younger, but this is a fairytale version of our life...things happen. Then the poor little gnome Gazzy walks in to find out that everyone is dying from poisonous apples meanwhile dueling each other vigorously. The normally timid gnome turns into a mystical dragon, spewing fire while joining the duel and playing Bon Jovi music with huge amps and a speaker system. During this time the dashing and charming knight - as well as part time chef - contemplates how to season the chicken breasts before him.

"Like how we still don't know where Seth came from. Hello? Forget finding him or killing him, because we still have to take care of the freaks who MADE him!" But of course, as the blind one speaks, silence engulfs the castle and everyone reverts to their normal mutant selves. Whoa, talk about an oxymoron. Banging my head against the marble counter top in frustration - how had they not thought of that - I heard everyone quiet down to confused mutterings, and it was an understatement to say that I was relieved the fight was finally leveling out. At least once it's done all the screaming leaves with it. But the murderous glares and long sighs leave a gross after taste. Yes, it is very unpleasant living with such headstrong people.

"So, what are we supposed to do then?" Max looks exasperated. And not that sarcastic look she gives me when she'd fed up with all my meddling. It's the really tired, I wish I had a pillow and some aspirin look, which is definitely a first for her. In fact, everyone has that look. They're all drained from screaming. Nudge is about to slump to the floor, and Gazzy looks like the only thing keeping him awake is the music playing in his iPod. As for Angel, well, she can sleep with her eyes open so I'm not even sure if she's awake or not. I look down at the floor, trying to organize my thoughts. My fingers are covered with tomato juice, lemon juice, olive oil, and salad dressing from a Hidden Valley bottle. The tiles on the floor are slick after having been cleaned by the lady who comes by every now and then when we're sleeping and sorts our shoes, which sounds creepy but actually saves us a whole ton of trouble. And the fact that everyone's lethargic isn't what gets me.

It's that I can see.

That frankly, I've been seeing since a little less than half an hour ago, and it all began with the word, "Dying."

* * *

Seth

I was probably somewhere in the Everglades, marshy water soaking my feet and sucking them in with greedy mud. Staggering, I had to use physical intervention and lift each leg with effort. I was having such trouble walking that it wasn't even automatic anymore - I didn't just look in one direction and visualize myself there, and poof! I was suddenly there. It didn't work that way right now. I'd been running around the states for about half a day, and after losing all my energy a few miles back I reverted to human form. The blinking little machine tagged to my ear was still buzzing incessantly, and I knew soon people from the circus would be upon me. Of course, that didn't keep me from setting a trap. That is, from purposely walking in to lure them towards a natural trap.

A crocodile-infested national park in Florida, trap.

Tucking myself into the crook of an old tree, I felt mosquitoes bite at all my exposed skin. And since I was stark naked that meant I had mosquitoes exploring uncharted territory which should NOT be pecked. I was glad for the balmy temperatures in Florida, but so keen on catching malaria. Sinking into the leaves, I tried to massage my bloody feet. There were cracks from rocks, cuts, glowering blisters, and bites from insects leaving scars and marks everywhere. It was easy to see I was in no state to fight off mad men wielding guns and machetes - that is, they'd need machetes to get through this place. Then again, I wanted to be caught.

I'd decided that inside operations would be of more use to me than going and escaping, much more efficient in other words. There were probably times when I could break my bars, or injure a surveillance goon. I'd sneak drugs they gave us into their own drinks and food. I could summon up a rebellion. Of course, why didn't I do that before? When I was already caught, before I'd met Nudge and completely screwed up her life? I couldn't. What made me think I could now? Something kept nagging me, kept telling me I was just scared. Scared of going back to Nudge, who wasn't scary in any way. It might've been her eyes. Nudge had those big, beautiful brown eyes that told you everything she was feeling. And I was just scared that suffering would be the only thing in it's reflection.

But what could I tell myself? She understood? That Nudge didn't care and wanted to trust me completely again, welcome me without any reservations, wary of what had happened before? Doubtful, because the world didn't work that way. Our world was harsh, and very temperamental, never ceasing to change and amaze others. This place we were all born in wasn't full of bunnies and rainbows like some sick My Little Pony wonderland - that's why people, _things_, like me were created. Or maybe I just didn't want it to be all cupcakes and glitter. But no matter what happened and will happen, no matter how she felt, the same thing remained true; I was a threat. Not just to her, but to her family as well. I could never be so selfish to even wish to approach her again.

The sound of barrels rolling and clicking into place in the underside of a revolver shocked me into movement. I'd gone into the Everglades thinking that it would be beyond easy to just wait it out and let the circus and it's henchmen take me with them. But as I morphed back into a cheetah, I knew that wasn't exactly true. Looking at the water's reflection as my muscles tensed for battle, my eyes tracked the figures. I growled throatily upon seeing some familiar tusks and about a half a dozen men with blood hungry guns in their hands. The pond shifted as fish swam around and off in the distance, away from the brewing fight and the adrenaline packed scent of danger. I head a crocodile snapping it's mouth somewhere off towards the fish, my heart pounding even louder as the prospect of blood churned instinct. Using the bio-scan, I felt my eyes go foggy from lack of food, my weight seemingly more than I could handle with overused legs.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who'd set a trap.

**From now on I'll be posting one thousand word chapters, so then I can post more frequently and it will free up my own personal time. I will be suspending the Seventh Snowfall, so any of you who were reading that I'm sincerely sorry. I just don't have any ideas for that. I will be continuing it sometime, hopefully after summer or towards the end of it. Once the ideas come back, I'll make up for any lost time. Also, Bo Peep is going to be following the same system I've decided to create for this fanfiction - one thousand word chapters or not chapters at all. This will be posted on my other stories, so then word can get out to anyone reading. I'll make sure those one thousand word chapters are worth reading and waiting for!**

-**Somewhat Sentient**


	12. Perception

Angel

"Holy crap." The words came out of my mouth before I could think. I'd secluded myself from the argument only moments before, letting my mind wander while pretending to watch whatever was on TV. There wasn't much going on in everyone else's mind which wasn't being voiced angrily. Max was thinking about knocking everyone out to just end the argument. Nudge seemed of clear of any thoughts - not necessarily meaning she was stupid, she was just thinking with her heart. Gazzy was beginning to get bored the the entire thing, and derailed to pretzel dogs and lemonade slushies. But Iggy?

Seems he was thinking about how much darker Nudge's skin was than he'd imagined.

Iggy immediately turned in my direction, a bit fast even for him. Closing my mouth, I shrugged and tried to melt into the space between the sofa cushions. Flushing out everybody else's voice while I concentrated, I got into Iggy's head and roamed around. His thoughts were pretty obvious; all some sort of idea of awe from being able to see. Muttering to myself, I sent a clear thought down to him, just to see what exactly was going on. _Iggy, our floor is dirty, can you clean it? _He shot a pointed look at me, rolling his eyes, which now seemed like somebody else's. They didn't have his bored tilt, and there was a darker blue color beginning to spread. It seemed so...unnatural. _What dirt? There's no dirt on this..._ I attempted a grin, but everything inside of me was scared worse than I'd ever been before. Flashbacks which I'd had earlier flooded back upon me, and my temple exploded into pain. There was something wrong.

I pulled Iggy outside of the room, and everyone else slumped to the floor from exhaustion. They'd been waiting for Iggy's words, but I had to speak to him first; all they wanted to do was yell at him. Max let out a deep sigh, and began picking feathers off of the couch in anxiety. Yawns and groans followed me into the hallway of our condo, memories pouring through the sides of my head, bringing the smell of plastic gloves and anesthesia. Locking the bathroom door behind us, I sat down on the lid of the toilet and tried my hand at interrogation through intimidation. Fancy words for a stare down. Breaking down, I frantically grabbed at toothpaste tubes, brushes and hairbands, rolling the toilet paper until there was none left on the role. I had a bad feeling about this, and I was going to go crazy if I didn't know. My heartbeat sped up, and Iggy tried to pull me down before I launched through the window. If anything, all my instinct told me to bolt right then and there, forget about troubling things and fly away. Throw away the promise I'd made to Max, telling her I wouldn't fly. Leave everyone else to figure things out, because I didn't want to stay on top of things anymore. But I had to, because I was Angel. I wasn't cute, I was practical and sensible, the only one in the Flock with such traits. Weren't those my own words? "Why can you see?"

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"Yes, God, yes it is." I fiddled with the plunger, striking it down and letting the pop noise calm me. Blood clouded my vision as I bit a doctor, blooding gushing from his hand, the same one he would later use to smack me hard against the face. I remembered all of these things - all of the pain, everything which reminded me from which I came. I didn't want it. I wanted to throw it all away, but something in my gut told me I'd need them again someday, but what for? To watch on Blu-Ray DVD, pointing at the different scenes, and laughing at it all? There wasn't anything to laugh about. We'd been put through something regular citizens would think of as inhumane torture. I let out a deep sigh, looking Iggy in the eyes. I was afraid this was something come back to haunt us. Something which we thought we'd gotten rid of. A sickly sweet voice rang in my head. _Oh, Angel, you were always the smartest one. So tell me, is anything ever _really_ gone?_

"Why do you think you're able to see now?" I felt like something was exploding in my head, fireworks going off in big bursts of color, trying to convince me of something. Whatever it was. I felt completely blank, and while Iggy and I just sat in the bathroom, him on the tiled floor and me on a toilet, I couldn't help but get philosophical and poetic. Is anything ever really gone? I ached for the answer. "I'm going to have to tell the others." Getting up off the seat, I made my way for the door. For a few seconds, Iggy just sat there in befuddlement, as if he didn't quite understand the words, like some sort of foreign tourist. I was in such a rush, that I forgot the bathroom door was locked, struggling with the knob and pounding on the wood. A hand slithered across neck and lightly pressed against my windpipe, as two unfamiliar blue eyes pulled me over against the wall.

"You can't."

"Why not!" This wasn't Iggy. I struggled against his grip, eyes tearing slightly from the strain of speaking while using air I didn't have. I tried reading his thoughts, but there was something wrong. Each time I focused on him, as an individual, other people sprouted up in my mind. Thoughts were overwhelming me, people forgetting where they'd parked their car or what groceries they needed to get. It was like I was a computer, and when I tried requested a specific voice recording, all of my other voice recordings popped up and played. Someone had hacked into me, or they'd placed a scrambler on that one recording I wanted to get. The same ideas kept colliding with each other, and I couldn't pin one down and remember what I wanted. Iggy had a scramble. No one could touch me or my telepathy. Or could they? Grunting, I looked up into Iggy's eyes. I turned my face away.

They weren't his. This wasn't Iggy.

"Because this doesn't have anything to do with them, it has to do with - " The minute he spoke, something clicked in my mind. Is anything ever really gone? Memories I didn't want to forget. Why? Maybe I needed them in the future. Lapses in my memory I couldn't solve, couldn't patch. A mutant with high psychic skills being unable to read somebody's mind. A mutant. Pain which reminded me from which I came. Wasn't it obvious? Shrinking against the wall and ducking from his reach, I grabbed a box of Q-tips and screamed. Iggy launched himself at me, wings trying to open up in this tiny space. We collided, before he had to pull himself off when one of his wings got caught in a mirror attached to the wall. Stomping down on his foot, I garnered a yowl from his lips, the only thing which sounded or seemed like him. Slamming the box into his skull, I saw a big bruise sprout as he fell onto the tiled floor. I looked at my reflection in the mirror, knitting my eyebrows together and unlocking the door. Iggy was wrong. This does have something to do with them, with us. Because nothing is ever really gone.

And the School had come back from the ashes.


	13. Evanescence

Lynn

I must've been asleep for hours, waking up on a patio outside of a place which smelled distinctly of Fay. There was a lot of noise coming from out of room, hurting my ears so much I buried my face in a quilt which I'd waken up with. I felt sluggish, my head hurting so much I began wondering if I'd hit it against the railing. On the ledge was a cup of milk, balanced perfectly so that it wouldn't tip onto me or fall down into the street below and cause somebody else trouble. What had happened? All I could remember was being on his shoulder, after falling into the question of whether or not I felt something for this complete stranger. Then after that, the taste of roasting cocoa beans on my tongue, cream, and cinnamon. A sign which read Starbucks. Fay looking down at me, smiling as I played around with whip cream. After that, the clatter of a chair, and the noise of a frantic crowd.

And the dream that was the coffee shop and normality was turned into the memory of pain and blood.

Shaking uncontrollably, I tried to focus on what had happened. Everything seemed distant beyond recognition, fast moving blurs and sounds out of focus. Nothing I could reasonably turn into a situation. I twisted my body so I could see inside the screen door, plastering my face against the glass so I could catch glimpses of Fay. There were four other people, three girls and one boy. A blonde-haired girl was trying to talk to a taller one, Fay turning and trying to grab a hold of the commanding taller girl, while shooing away a dark-skinned teenager who kept interrupting. He seemed like the authoritative figure, the one who put everything together and held it like glue. I was busy looking at him, how he continually held his hand for attention, how he kept his distance from the taller blonde girl even when talking to her. A blonde boy, obviously the brother of the tiniest girl, was lazing on a couch and listening to music.

I was surprised that anybody could understand each other in that sort of crazy conversation. Maybe it was because I wasn't accustomed to the whole English language practice, but even when Fay and I spoke it seemed natural. The words would flow from his lips, like he'd known we would meet, and that the minute he'd seen me the sentences formed in his head. Everything flying out of their mouths seemed rushed, broken, hard to understand. It didn't quite seem worth the time, and Fay looked like he wanted to pull away from that. _To me?_ I couldn't help but wish that he'd come out to the patio, ask me how I'd been. Or he could just stare out into the distance, barely speaking to me in that seemingly cold way which held a hidden warmth. I didn't care, as long as he was closer. Right now, we were separated by glass.

Even with the obvious difference, it seemed so much worse than being separated by bars or species.

What was I? I smacked myself, the sound making his head turn slightly before looking back at the taller blonde girl. Acting all lovey-dovey, so connected to him when I barely knew him. He'd only picked me up after a heart attack, brought me along with him to his house. Did I even know if he was safe? I could be smuggled into slavery without realizing it, just another handsome face who was tricking a poor damsel in distress. As cold trickled down my cheek, I held my hand up to my mouth. The salty taste of tears rolled down off the bridge of my nose, pitter-pattering on my hand while slipping through the cracks between my fingers. "Dammit..." Picking up the blanket, I peered in close. The tears seemed involuntary. I wasn't sad. Why would I be sad? Why _was_ I sad? Smiling, I chuckled and looked at the blanket, where right on the edge was a coarse red hair.

I regularly had red hair in the first place, but this was thicker, and didn't smell like human hair. There was a rugged, feral aroma to it, something that most colognes would try to capture but probably failed at. Laughing louder, I heard the conversation dim down, but I didn't mind it at all. This explained everything. I almost lost myself - and last night, I literally did. I'd morphed completely without even remembering it. How...how did I forget? The pain of the entire transformation, each single moment was branded in my head. There wasn't any question about it; I'd almost gone completely feral. There were many mutants like that at the circus, where one night they completely lost touch with their humanity, never to lose their fur and claws again. One would think I'd be overjoyed, because what the circus had robbed from me would be given back. But going completely feral after being experimented on isn't the same as being born completely feral. The circus had given us humanity so strong, so memorable that forgetting it was like ripping away all emotion and turning into...a monster. You weren't a majestic wild animal. You were a badass murderer, no comic relief or anything. Blood was your life. It wasn't a reflex, it was a rudimentary process.

It was unbelievably scary.

"Lynn..." I turned, tears still falling freely from my eyes and burning my skin while throwing away it's salty taste and replacing it with a intensity that killed me. Tears. I was scared by everything, wasn't I? The boy on the other side of the glass took out his earbuds, looking at me with curious and intrigued eyes, blue and everything but innocent. Leaning his head on his arm, he seemed to be communicating with me. There was a bit of Fay in him, a slight maturity which didn't match up with his carefree and modern exterior, but there was more sympathy evident. Nothing you had to dig for. Even when I tried to let Fay command my attention, I still felt his gaze staring at me, as if dissecting me. Clenching my teeth, I swept hair out of my eyes and let Fay know I was listening. Something in my gut told me exactly what he was going to ask me about...well, more like who.

"Lynn, do you know..."

"Seth?" Fay nodded.

"Do you know where he is?" What was it that Seth had told me a long time ago? Something about loyalty, trust, sticking together. Where was he? For all I knew, he'd stopped by here for a one night stand, then ran off without me. Maybe he didn't remember me. All I could tell was that he'd been here, with Fay and this dark-skinned girl, and completely destroyed them. Well, he'd done the same for me, hadn't he? Was he just one of those people who seemed like a kindred spirit, then ran off and disappeared for the rest of your life? Was that who Seth really was? That innocent, loyal, and kind type seemed impossible. A facade. Was it? Why couldn't I naturally walk over to him, talk to him, ask him that question? Why couldn't I just go over and tell him about what was happening to me? About how the dream I'd had before, was about my mother? And...that I saw something that I hadn't told him about. Why couldn't I tell him? I shook my head. _Where are you Seth?_

"I don't know." I tapped on the wooden boards of the patio, rolling the coarse red hair between my forefinger and thumb. Wiping away my tears, I tried to muster a smile and some confidence. "But I have a guess."


	14. Compromise

Seth

I'd struggled to tear off the men who'd caught me after a brutal attack from the elephant. I remembered the eyes that the elephant had used to stare me down throughout the attack. They felt cold and merciless, but there was something more to them other than that. They were black, not just a dark brown, but a glazed black which seemed hypnotic. After just one blow from the beast the air was knocked out of my lungs and I blacked out. The smell of heavy sedatives and chloroform still hung on my pelt. I was sure that I'd been bleeding moments before, only to wake up dizzy from the blood loss but there was no red to be found. Yawning, I looked at the scene in front of me while quickly becoming aggressive. I was in the circus again; it wasn't the view that clued me off, it was the fact I was in a cage and couldn't even stretch my legs.

"Damn tiger. You know it put Turner in the hospital? Should've chloroformed it a little bit longer. Might've even killed the little creeper."

"Shut up! He's no tiger, you idiot. And the freaks have ears. Killing the ringmaster's property...just thinking about it, will get _you_ killed. Now play your hand."

"I know, I know. But couldn't we just cut off their ears then? Problem solved." Growling, I elicited a round of laughter from the clowns guarding me. Usually they drank beer or gambled on poker and blackjack, maybe even whipped out some swim suit calendars. They were pretty low class clowns, which only made me angrier. Was I only worth these goons? They'd guarded me years ago as well, so their presence brought too many buried memories back to surface. Letting my growl fan out, I sulked back into my cage.

The entire room was dark and dimly lit, with one fluorescent bulb flickering above the round table the two men used. Two bar stools with fading blue leather ripping off the side swiveled noisily from misuse. Beer cans and fast food wrappers were tossed into one corner, flashy magazines stacked up neatly. One outlet with no cover sported the plug of a retro TV with a walkie-talkie neglected on top. Paint was peeling off of the wall, and floor boards creaked no matter how minuscule a movement you made. One man burped, and the other tried to hold in his laughter, only to squirt Johnny Walker Black down his chin and out his nose.

Seems we weren't the only animals in the building.

A small hand reached out from the cage next to me and grabbed on to my legs, claws digging into the soft flesh and fur covering them. I turned my head, unnerved by the approach, and saw a mass of white fluff with fierce eyes staring at me intensely. Tilting my head, I snorted a bit and tried to recognize the mutant. I didn't know this person, but their species was obvious enough; the ever on the brink of extinction polar bear. Although this creature's eyes were fierce, there was a soft and gentle layer behind it, as if the years in this hell hole had contorted such a beautiful pair of lookers into something distant.

Jerking my leg away, barely a bubble of crimson blood surfacing, I try speaking to the animal. Only growls come out, and the polar bear shrinks back protectively while staring at me in an unwavering manner. Tapping on the bars, I motion for it to back up. Before morphing back I flattened myself against the ground, biting down on my own teeth and filling up with pain I knew too well.

"Hey! Damn it, that cat made me drop my cards...don't look! He just completely tossed my game..."

"What happened to the freaks have ears?" Both of the men smacked each other, one leaving to grab more food in a tantrum, while the other stomped around aimlessly to clear out some steam. Chuckling, I tried moving my head in the small space without making a sound. The mutant beside me saw what I was doing and immediately transformed as well. We both were hunching in the cramped area, trying to grasp the new-found language yet again, while I thanked God I wasn't claustrophobic. A small whisper makes me turn my head expectantly, to stare at the now less fevered polar bear. It...she'd, transformed into a snowy-haired girl with light brown eyes and pale skin. Thick black eyelashes and nimble arms made her seem like a ballerina, and almost erased the fact that she'd just lost 300 pounds and went from bear to teenager. I couldn't help but compare her to Lynn and Nudge; where Lynn was alike to Nudge in the fact that both were well-toned and had the overall appearance of being able to take care of themselves, this girl seemed a bit like Angel. Without the menacing intimidation and seduction.

"I'm called Tharsilla. I assume you're Seth." She picked at her nails, full red lips pressed together in concentration. "We need a breakout. _I_ need a breakout."

"I know. But how? How do you know me?" Never mind what I'd said before. This girl seems almost exactly like Angel. Both seemed gentle and innocent at first, but then their other sides seemed to blossom before you could deem them...well, angels. Turning to look at the men, one of whom had returned with burgers and fries, I kept my voice low and signaled for her to do the same. If we got caught before being able to formulate an escape, if that was even possible, we would be pulled apart and beaten. Obviously, the conversation would not be continued.

"I hear you have friends as well."

"Yeah, so?" Right after I'd said the words, I caught wind of what she meant. Letting out a laugh, I buried my face in the steel plane below me, so as to smother the sound significantly. How had I not caught that? Even if Nudge didn't care enough anymore to search for me, her friend Max would definitely want to exterminate me before I could reveal anything, or trace me back to my source in order to terminate that.

And for once, I was glad to have people chasing me down, trying to kill me.

For the most part, at least.


	15. Ambiguity

Gazzy

For some reason I was chilled to the bone thinking of where this stranger was leading us. After all, Fang hadn't come home and had an honest chat with us for so long - and now he comes and talks, but not only that. He brings a girl who just _happens_ to know Seth? So it wasn't actually the destination which spooked me so much. It was more of the person leading us there, because it was just too coincidental. It felt fake, and staged. We weren't in a movie. This was real life, and yet I felt like I was in a sitcom. The worst that could've been happening was happening, and I knew Angel could tell better than I could. But why didn't she speak? She was usually so controlling about this kind of thing, but now? Now she just seemed to crawl inside of herself and forget. God, she even stayed behind with Iggy and insisted no one speak to him. Maybe she and Iggy were in on something.

Or maybe they were both scared about losing their lives. At least, more than the rest of us were.

Max was a little bit more than frazzled. Every now and then I would have to remind her that her wings jutted out a little too abnormally to look like regular shoulder bones, or reply constantly to her questions, all while she stared aimlessly at Fang's back. She was never so out of it; even if she'd grown to be less of leader nowadays she always had the time to think about her actions and thoughts before they happened. I tried to pick up the pace so I could catch Nudge and induce some of that old chattiness from somewhere deep inside of her. We all seemed so different, so pulled apart like yarn, unraveling like a close-knit sweater. We didn't feel like family anymore, keeping secrets and acting outside of our regular personas. It was even abnormal for me to act so sensitively, to think so deeply into something. So why was I doing it? Why couldn't I just cut it out and go back to being the Gazzy who farted so obnoxiously it was funny? Why did I have to grow so apart from...myself? I had finally caught up to Nudge, but it seemed as if neither of us really wanted to talk. Sighing, I began sprinting to get out of everyone's sight.

The Gasman had to do a little soul-searching.

Lynn. That was her, name, right? The Asian girl with auburn hair floating behind her, a smile on her face but a frown in her eyes. She seemed to glow a little brighter when Fang spoke to her, feel a little lighter. Then she'd sink back down from the heavens once he closed his mouth and looked at Max, worry contorting his face. As soon as Fang gave me a gap, I would speak to her. Okay, so she'd caught my eye in a way which piqued my curiosity, but I wasn't infatuated. When she was staring off into space, I mimed Fang's voice as a conversation starter. "Hello?" Her head whipped around, and a flicker of excitement seemed to light her up. When she saw it was me, she just turned back around. I felt something in my stomach drop, and turned away too, already pushed away by somebody I'd barely spoken three words to. Grumbling, I felt my legs buckle. Bowing to the ground, I tried to act invisible. _Shit._ The rest of the Flock passed by me, and I bit my lip to stop from shouting at them to come back. I'd just be acting like a baby. Taking a deep breath, I stood back up.

What was I now? Twelve? My birthdays had passed so quickly, and I hadn't bothered to tell anybody about it. Sure, they'd try to celebrate a little, but it was near worthless. No one else knew when their real birthday was. We all just made it up as we went along, trying to act older than perhaps we really were. Our bodies matured fast enough. Did age really matter? Angel was only ten, and she already knew a hundred ways to get information out of somebody, some ways most people think that a ten year old would be able to succeed at. But she _seemed_ old enough. And as long as that was conveyed, the body would buy it. Seth would buy it. I'm sure she tried seducing him before using her ESP. Seduction is more of a hobby for her than an actual way to find information. Maybe it was to find out how attached he was to Nudge. Well, we all know that much now. He up and ran away, didn't he?

I spit at the ground, already getting tired after running for only a few minutes. I didn't even check to see if anybody was around to hear me, because now _I_ was too frazzled to give a care. "Dammit! I wasn't built for running. I mean really! Thin bones, scrawny legs! Whaddya THINK I'm made for? Sprinting? I'm made for freaking fl-" Fang shot a look at me, and even from so far away I could feel the harshness in it. He didn't want the secret getting out because I was careless. Rolling my eyes at him, I got out of my 'bonzai' position and kicked at the dirt. Why did he have to be the leader? Was it because he had the looks, because he was cool and composed? I took out my iPod and looked at my reflection in the warped screen. I had the looks didn't I? I mean, I'd never dated before, but a couple of people have tried to pick me up on the street before. And most of them were girls. I shivered. Most of them.

Popping the earbuds in, I tried to listen to some music. I knew it would be pointless trying to concentrate on the task at hand without turning down my volume, but I blasted it and decided to slow down even more. I'd pick up my pace once somebody recognized I was gone. Once somebody went, _Oh, where is the lovable young man Gazzy? I don't know. What do you mean you don't know! How could you lose America's Angel! _I couldn't help but laugh pathetically at my own pun. Although I doubted America would recognize me as a savior from the heavens instead of a pestilence to be tested. I mean, what happens to aliens in almost all sci-fi movies? They come in peace, leave in pieces. Okay, that was completely corny and I just ripped somebody off by using it. But really, somebody should care a bit more about the Gasman. When I finally decided to catch up to the rest of the Flock, I heard Fang yell at me. It was good to know that he loved having me back, but it was completely out of norm for Fang to yell. He's more of a death glare kind of person.

"Gazzy, take Lynn. Now." The little red-head unlocked her hand from Fang's and looked at me narrowly. Seems like she didn't appreciate the whole Fang impersonation a few minutes ago. Oh well, it didn't matter. Putting my arm around her shoulder, I tried to unnerve her by bending low and whispering in her ear. But the minute I tried to speak she pushed me away and gave off a defiant glare. I snickered for once, feeling a bit too high because she'd acted in such a feisty manner. Seems like Angel and I had one thing in common - we really liked unorthodox first impressions on people. It couldn't hurt to press it. I scooped Lynn up and ran off, feeling in my legs suddenly kicking in when motivation was sparked. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to gain enough distance without somebody else's help, and Lynn was too heavy. Somebody had attacked the rest, more like a group of people eerily reminiscent of local thugs. I felt the front of my shirt plaster into my skin and the top close in on my neck. _Oh, shit._ My wings cut through the fabric like butter and lifted me into the air, already beating steadily and gaining height.

Lynn had been kicking at me and clawing at my arms, as if trying to get me to drop her. When she realized that wasn't going to happen, she'd stopped. Then I did such an amatuer mistake as letting the nature embedded into my back get the best of me, and voila! A scenario which would include a harsh scolding from Fang and a little personal punchbag time with Max. Hadn't I learned enough from books and movies? Rules of the first date; one, don't talk too much about your past relationships, that always kills the mood. Two, be sure to stray away from areas where you past partners used to live. And lastly, three. Never show a girl your wings on the first date! Shouting, I felt Lynn begin hitting and kicking at me wildly again. Rolling my eyes, I checked to see how high up I was. Not high enough for a random encounter with an airplane. I began to let go of the damsel in distress and was about to drop her when I felt something furry press up against my stomach. Sparing a glance downward, I dropped the thing in my hands.

Because it was no longer a human girl.

For half a second I was dumbfounded, and then realized the huge body of water beneath me and the fact that a specific lump of fur was squeaking wildly with the increasing ground. My wings acted on their own and had me swoop down to catch it, and while I was catching my breath it began clawing at the remains of my shirt and squealing in terror. Then it stayed silent, as if all the scream was out of it. Then it began crying, because that seemed like a logical thing to be doing. Muttering, I landed down near the water and set it down. First I had to find out what had happened to Lynn. Was I just dreaming? I pinched my skin. "Owwy." Really? Maybe I hadn't matured, after all. Sighing, I looked back at the lump of fur. Which was now just a lump of skin. Trembling, light-colored skin with red hair clinging to it with water vapor and sweat. Tucking in my wings, I looked at what seemed to be Lynn. She was really scared, her eyes darting from the ground in front of her to the water a few feet away. Seeing the problem, I wrapped her up in my now ruined shirt and pulled her away from the lake. Whatever had happened, it seemed like Lynn was in the same league at the Seth guy.

And that another member of our 'family' had a lot of explaining to do.


	16. TBC Alarmed

**I haven't been posting a ton lately, and I might not be posting a whole lot every now and then, but I hope you appreciate what I have to post, senors. Thanks for reading, and huge apologies for the tardiness and the little filler I have here. I decided to write a poem for this filler, so let me know if its bad or good.**

Alarm

Send in the troops and fleets

With thousands of heads and millions of feet

Send them to help before the others crumble

Keep them from falling when they make their fumble

Six who hide meeting three who run

And plenty seeking for their returns

Bloodthirsty against freedom hungry

Waiting to begin the fight, all for nothing

Not one will come out unscathed or not scarred

Whether they end up in the earth or behind metal bars

Grounded, blinded, wounded, slighted, alarmed

For them, no hand is the best one drawn


	17. Exclusion

Max

My entire body turned violently, pushed into the ground and rolling for a few seconds. I struggled to keep my wings from unveiling naturally, tucking them in while I scrambled to catch my breath and jump back into the fray. Fang was attempting to jab one guy in the shoulders, and missed once or twice before landing a kick in his stomach. I rolled my eyes - I couldn't believe someone had actually fallen for the feints he'd laid out. Picking myself up, I rubbed my hand against my face to check for blood. The man I'd been fighting leered above me, smiling as if he'd just unwrapped some million dollar present. I groaned. It was sick. Leaping forward, I latched onto his neck using my fingers. The blood on my hand left smudges on his throat, and I felt a bit drip down from right above my temple. The pipe he'd used to hit me in the head was laying in one corner. Which left him defenseless, and still smiling like a toddler.

He tripped backwards on a rock, and I kept my hold as I fell, side battered against the ground roughly. I whipped my hair out of my face, throwing it in his eyes just to piss him off. Smiley spit back at me, his hands grabbing my ankles and trying to flip me over. Wincing as he dug his nails into my flesh, I pressed down harder on his neck. A flash of images fired back towards me, and dizziness crept into my head. They were brief flashes of emotions; pain, sadness, anger. I felt my grip tighten as the last emotion flew through me. Smiley's eyes seemed to bulge out a bit, and his face crinkled in a little out of pain. This time image flashes raced through my head like frantic deer; the School burning up in flames, the last time I'd seen the men and women inside of that place, and the scared look on Angel's face before we'd left. The Angel who had lost her composure scared me. Feeling my hand peel off of Smiley's neck, I stepped back and let out one shaky breath.

It wasn't time for reminiscing.

"Max, quit dazing! Your creep is back up!" I turned again to face Smiley, darting my eyes at the pipe which had found itself in his hand. The way he handled a weapon seemed a bit too promising that next time, he will get farther than just scraping above my temple. Taking on step back, I kept on the balls on my feet, ready to dash to the left or right. He whipped it one way, towards my head, and then tried to slam it into my side. I saw the swing two seconds to late, and forgot to jump the half an inch I had to. I stumbled while keeping myself upright, feeling the pain echo throughout my entire body. I looked down warily - no blood, but it hurt ridiculously enough not to have something wrong with it. Biting my lip, I threw a jab at his face. Who would have thought Smiley was smart enough to mimic Fang's feint perfectly?

After a few more jabs, I'd caught up to my opponent and inflicted enough damage to get close and knock him out with a pressure point. Fang and Nudge had finished up their people, Angel comically having finished long before the rest of us. I looked at the small fry she was sitting on - what self respecting man got beat up by a ten year old girl? He looked at least in his twenties. Isn't that the prime of a man's abilities? Scoffing, I nudged him gently before taking Angel's hand and bringing her towards the rest of us. Fang kept his silence, but I could tell there was something on his mind. So could Nudge, who was literally biting through her lip to keep from pointing it out. If anything, Fang liked the moody and hard to read idea and we'd just bruise his ego if we didn't wait for him to give things away. I knew that well enough from going through the motions of a 'relationship' with the guy.

Pinching my skin to wake me up from my thoughts, I whipped my head around to see a dot in the distance, something that seemed a bit like a movie. Where you turn around, and you wonder what exactly that little dot in the sky is. A bird? A plane? A cloud? Well, that sure as hell isn't Superman. Gazzy collapsed into a head in the ground, the little redhead Lynn crawling out from under him to run to Fang. She looked worried, and her entire face was flustered. I looked at the shirtless Gazzy and raised my eyebrows. Why was this girl wearing his shirt? Angel smirked, and she slipped a single sentence into my head before focusing on someone else. _I didn't realize Gazzy was so aggresive!_

"Angel..." I groaned, tapping her lightly on the head to show her that something was wrong with what she'd just said. Another smirk. As if saying she knew. Rolling my eyes, I walked towards the Gasman and picked him up by one arm, his face sweaty and full of grass. Whatever he'd done to the girl, she'd definitely beaten him up for it. I smacked him on the head, trying to get a reaction. He just let out one big moan. Turning him to rest on his back, I gave him a light wrap on the stomach and threw my hands up in resignation. Gazzy definitely did not feel very forthcoming with his information today.

He put his hand to his face, rubbing his eyes. I looked away - watching Gazzy shed a few tears wasn't something I wanted to see. Maybe seeing someone else hurt made me feel like I was doing a bit too much self-pity time, but there was also the fact most guys don't like people seeing them cry. Hence the hand over the face. That is, most people don't like having others see them in that sorry state crying brings out in you. I felt a something stab my heart. That was a giveaway I was getting a little too sentimental. "For a second there, I thought I was just gonna fall." His shoulders shook. "I thought I was going to lose my flight too. Everything hurts, all over, after all." He let out a long chuckle, and took his hand away from his face.

Angel's lips quirked up a bit. "You weren't crying?" Gazzy looked at her with smiling eyes, answering her question already. She let a huge smile take over. "You idiot. I don't need my brother trying to trick me." Fang looked over at us with tired eyes, and Nudge was also standing shock still. Was the whole shirtless thing that drastic? After all, Fang sometimes came out of the shower with only pants on. And Iggy always walked around without a shirt too. His face popped up in my head. Not that I really minded.

"Did no one else realize what he just said?" Fang shook his head at us. Lynn looked up at him, a gentle look in her eyes. Another sharp stab. My eyes wavered over her compassionate look, and I traced the circle of my own eyes. A sudden burst of anxiety shook me up, and I yanked on the edge of my shirt. I hadn't realized what Gazzy had said that was so wrong. Was I supposed to? Nudge trained her eyes on me, watching me fidget under pressure that wasn't directed at me. I felt vulnerable - this wasn't the way that a leader was supposed to act. But something made me question the stern way Fang held all our gazes, made me wonder what exactly he was thinking. And why Lynn understood him, when someone who had stayed with him for years and seen him go through millions of stages couldn't. It hurt.

A knowing smile crept onto the redhead's face, and taking his hand into her own, she guided him to Gazzy. I tried to use mere will power to keep her makeshift dress from falling off. That wouldn't have been too enjoyable, from my perspective at least. Rubbing Gazzy's head gently, a few words began to tumble out of her mouth, which I didn't catch. The next few, uncertain. Then she seemed a bit more firm, without a single trace of doubt in her mind after two more sentences. "You've gone into rejection, haven't you?" Gazzy didn't understand; that much you could make out from the way he was staring at her increduously. But she kept on kneading his forehead, staring him square in the eyes with certainty, and a trace of determination to get her point across.

So why then, did it feel like I was the one on the receiving end of that gaze?

**I am super late, and it makes me feel annoyed at myself. So, I'm going to do something to raise my spirits - and hopefully yours too. Whoever can answer my question first gets a request of anything, within good reason. Of course, if no one can answer after a while, I'll go into a default question, since this one is kind of hard.**

**Question is: The new character introduced in chapter 14 Compromise, Tharsilla, had a different name when the chapter was first posted. What was that name?**


	18. Remorse

Seth

The clowns who had been guarding us earlier were gone, replaced by silence and surveillance cameras watching our every movement. Tharsilla was resting her head on her knees, and my own transformation left me resting on the palm of my head. We gave each other no notice, listening to a toilet flush in the distance and the creaking of floorboards. The only information we could get from that is; A, the wall are thin, and B, we had to pee on newspaper for no reason. Pulling her hair back into a bun, she tapped her foot against the floor of her cage.

I slid my knuckles across the bars of my cage, tapping on the bottom in response. She frowned, shaking her head in frustration. Barely in a whisper, she silently opened her mouth and let hiss through to form words. My ears perked up in return, and I lifted my head to smile. Luckily, my senses were honed to enough to make out exactly what she said. "I'm terrible at the cage crap. No one teaches you how to tap for directions in the wild." She didn't add that no one ever asked for directions in the wild. If anyone were to stop at any given moment, it would only be a matter of seconds before something bigger and hungrier came out looking for dinner. Fate was tricky like that.

I let the conversation remain one-sided, with the occasional glances. Her species most likely didn't have the ability to pick up such light sound and interpret it as fluently as I could. "You know," she began, closing her mouth to steal a glance at the camera, "You have this strange scent on you." Another pause while she checked again. Seems they couldn't pick up the noise either. We turned around to create a diversion for a few moments, testing to see if the camera fell for it. The other animals rustled in return, as if helping us since they couldn't help themselves. My heart panged briefly - why had I set out and found Nudge and her family in the first place? "You listening?"

My eyebrows went up, surprised that she was still talking to me, and I gave a slight nod to assure her without causing too much attention. Forcing down my eyebrows, I kept my eyes trained on the small device moving in the corner of the room. What was that angle the camera just moved towards? I attempted craning my head, and caught just a peak before whipping it back around. Why was it aimed at a small spot in the wall, and not at the cages or door? After all, these were the most valuable areas - an exit to escape with, and tons of animals sitting idly. Tharsilla continued her bare whisperings. "It's hard to describe. Something about you feels kind of, alpha, to put it in a single word." The bioscan in my eyes picks up, tracking the heat and motion behind the wall the camera was trained on.

Two bulky men were moving packages, their hands and faces smudged out by my bio-scan, as I was only tracking heat signatures. Heaving the sacks over a small step, they let a bit slip out and continued walking without notice. Whoever was employing them cared, though - it was made obvious by the camera positioning itself to examine the left over debris. As to how the camera could see this, was lost to me. Even I could only manage temperature views, the camera was able to catch things I didn't, like where exactly the men moved as they did. I had to fill in everything I didn't get by watching it. But that wasn't the only thing that seemed completely off. I tried to zone in on the left over debris, feeling the harsh glare of Tharsilla against my back. She was probably having one of her moments which I'd come to know so well. One minute sweet as a teddy bear, the next sour as someone finding out their porridge had been sipped away by a blonde nobody. No pun intended in there. "Don't listen then."

The scraps were still barely visible, blobs of faint yellow in my perception. They had to be valuable, and still somehow living - otherwise the cameras wouldn't be so obviously looking at them, and I wouldn't be able to see them. I stole a glance at Tharsilla, as if to let her know I _was_ listening. She snarled angrily. Seeing as there would be no more conversation, I attempted enhancing my vision by zooming in and out simultaneously. No dice. After I gave up and slumped backwards, I began thinking into it. There _had_ to be some way to get to the other side of that wall. But there was definitely a thin layer of cement there - I couldn't look through walls, the cement was just thin enough to let me see. And cement was still cement. I'd need something with more strength and weight than myself. Enough to get through. I took another look at Tharsilla.

Being on her bad side wasn't the best thing, especially when she was the one person I needed at the moment.

**Okay, sorry about being late. I say this way too many times, and it's a bad habit. Also, the whole heat signature thing isn't something I've looked up, so all my descriptions sound kind of sci-fi or fantasy, but let's face it. People sprouting wings isn't exactly plausible either. So whenever something seems iffy, please excuse me. I don't do scientific explanations. What else...oh, yes. New question!**

******Question is: The new character, Tharsilla's species, is what? Look through the passage for hints. I actually have already said it in a previous chapter, but that's for you to find out. Whoever posts first wins! Oh, and let's do it Jeopardy style. Your answer should be phrased as a question.**


	19. Vitality

Lynn

Rejection was like a disease which coursed through a being's body. It was not pleasant, and could be one of two things. Degradation of muscles, all enhanced abilities, and body function in general. Or, the succumbing of one side to another, human to animal. It was usually the latter for those of us cooped up in cages, but there were rare cases. Gazzy – that's what his psychopath sister called him – was slowly succumbing. His was different than those of the others in his Flock. The rest of them seemed to be degradating. It was strange. Usually siblings would go at the same rate, and not be rejected in different ways. Their DNA was too similar to be changed so much to cause this. Angel looked at me, a storm rumbling in her eyes. I felt a prick in the side of my head, and moved my hand to find blood. The others looked at me, Fay's gaze calm and collected. I felt my heart beat slow, and the words find themselves on my lips. "Blood."

The memories appeared immediately, flashing by with fuzzy resolution and crystal clear sound. Lying on the ground, a mess of red fur. My nose picked up the sour scent of urine, and my ears the labored breathing of an injured animal. The cold earth sucked my paws in, and as I trekked forward I felt bile rising in my throat. Turning, I nudged the pile. It rolled, looking up at me with focused eyes. Eyes just like my own. _Mama._ My mother bit at my face, only to be greeted by air as I moved away instinctively. It didn't matter that she raised me, it was survival. Everyone was an enemy. Everyone was out to kill me. This thinking kept me alive, just as I was taught. When our species slowly began to edge towards the thicker areas of China the other predators found themselves hungry and in luck. Red pandas weren't meant for gentleness anymore, not in our new environment.

Many of us had died because of the switch, because of the inability to adapt and the newfound need for endurance. But this wasn't the only reason for our change, as was obvious from my mother bleeding into the earth with her chest scarred and irregular. The Circus. Plenty of us had been kidnapped for tests, surgery and death not uncommon. It was known as the final stand. If you were caught by the humans you were breathing your last breath, seeing your last glimpse of the world. And as I saw my mother, her face pinched in pain, I knew the rumors and the fables were true. The Circus would not spare any mercy on anybody. With a final growl, my mother collapsed onto her side. Rustling came from the other side of the clearing, and I forced myself into the shadow of the greenery. Two humans came out of the side, took one look at my mother, and spoke strange words into a machine. These words were vowels and consonants I couldn't make sense of then, but now where second nature to me. "Heart specimen failed, sir. We shall retrieve another and dispose of the body." Back then all these words meant were danger.

Pushing my mother's body into a pond, the two humans turned and looked around. They phoned back in, but this time said no words. Slowly, one took out a net and the other a syringe. I felt their eyes steady on me, and swallowed. I recorded the light, the sound, and took in a deep breath. And just like that, I felt both humans come upon me and inject something into my arm, scoop me up in the net. The last image I had was that of my mother's blood staining the water, the metallic smell of blood wafting up from the pond.

"Blood!" I wiped it off on the shirt haphazardly wrapped around me, and looked at the people around me. Fay still had that calm and collected look, but it unsettled me this time. Hadn't he been kind and open-hearted with me? Those cold eyes didn't belong on my soft Fay. Gazzy looked up at me, and I felt a chill run down my spine. His blue eyes, they were the same as his sister's. Angel, was it? There was something hard in her eyes, ferocious. _Find something out, Lynn? _She chuckled, but it echoed inside of my head instead of out in the open space. _Surely, you won't be needing to tell anybody, right?_ I clutched at my head, feeling the throbbing and the pricks again. Squeezing my eyes shut, I fell to the ground and whimpered. "Blood..." Everyone was an enemy. Everyone was trying to kill me. This was true everywhere.

"Rejection? Lynn, what the hell is rejection?" Gazzy's voice lingered in the distance, but I could still here Angel. _You won't be needing to tell anybody._ I shuddered, and the memories came again. Bright light, scalpels, blood all over the plastic gloves of a human. The strange beating of my heart. The short glimpse I gave it before passing out again. My skin cut open, my heart pumping blood and the overwhelming vision of an open-heart surgery. I screamed, and then more memories came. Seth, looking over me and handing me his share of food. Tiny Seth, when we both were still as innocent as was possible in such a terrible place. I blinked back tears, and looked up at the Flock, Nudge hiding in the background, Fay talking to Max, and Gazzy hovering over me. Angel, God cares where.

But where, where was Seth?


	20. Ingenuity

**Author's Note: I've been posting late, but here's another chapter for January. I'm hoping to get out two more. Let me know what you think.**

**Chibi-kun**

Nudge

It was insane. Since when were we all so frantic? Since when were we bruised, battered, hurt? Since when were we all losing flight, going into our so-called rejection? What was rejection? I looked at Lynn, watched as Fang and Max pushed Gazzy out of the way and tried to calm her down. Gazzy was still half-naked, still screaming at the red-haired girl, eyes still darting every which way. Angel was carrying a presence unlike her own, something disastrous. Had all of this started with Seth? I looked down at the floor.

Had all this started with me?

_Don't be self-centered. Stop the pity fest and get ready. We're leaving, with or without them._ Angel was next to me, sending messages to me as she got Gazzy off his feet. I looked at her, trying to figure her out. _But we need Lynn to know where Seth is._ Angel shook her head, saying something incoherent to Gazzy as she responded to me. _No, we don't. I've been digging through her mind enough to figure out where he is. All her memories are mostly pictures, and from the geography I can discern where this Circus is._ I didn't ask any more questions. Angel stood Gazzy next to me, and then walked over to Max. Our leader gave us a brief glimpse, before slumping her shoulders. I tried to block that out. Knowing Max was getting beat up by the entire thing was not good news.

We were all out of our element, but Max was supposed to perform well in every element. That's why she led us. Or, that's why we'd let her lead us. No one questioned her strength, her courage, her resourcefulness and her cunning. But as the years went by, we all grew weaker. Losing flight? Yeah, that sure as hell contributed to it. I looked at Gazzy, and whispered into his ear. "Iggy?" He shrugged.

I was right. This was insane.

This time, I asked Angel. I'd just noticed Iggy wasn't here, which I felt bad about, but the fact he wasn't here overrode it. _Where is Iggy? _Angel sighed, and took me into her gaze. _Iggy? Yeah, he's been a mole this entire time. _I whipped my head around to Max, checking to see if she'd heard. But of course she hadn't. Angel didn't include her in this little psychic conversation. _Mole?_ The blonde girl poked Gazzy, and had him walk along with us in the direction we'd originally started for. _Okay, not the entire time, but for quite a bit. The School got to him, and there's no time for us to stand around. If they got to Iggy, then they'll be here soon. _I grabbed her shoulder, this time cutting off the psychic connection.

"I thought we destroyed the School!"

Angel was upset now. "You think that destroying one School would buy us the time we need? Do you? There are more Schools in this world than clothes in your closet! More Schools than Harvard graduates!" I felt a sensation of fear run down my spine. If the School was still up and running, then that could only mean that there were more enemies. More people to stop and stare at and wonder if we were really safe. Everytime I saw a Victoria Secret commercial I had to change the channel. That's how scared I was, before I _thought_ we got rid of the School and all their super-model assassins. I was a lot more scared now, because thinking I was safe made me stop practicing what I needed to survive. I couldn't box with a novice now, I'd fall flat on my face.

"Listen, if we keep walking we should eventually get to a city. There should be a train station there." Angel pointed to the tracks and the rumbling in the distance a she talked. Gazzy looked back at Fang and Max, seeing if they'd gotten anywhere with Lynn.

"And where are we supposed to take the train?"

"Nowhere. I never said we'd need the train. Those thugs who attacked us needed somewhere to stay, right? Well, the only city near here is the one with the train. From what I gathered from the guy I knocked out, there were some more of their people stationed there. He called them right before I could get to him, said something about leaving. The train only runs late at night, and it's still early noon. We can just lounge somewhere, and the Circus will come to us. The reinforcements must know our faces, they were too coordinated to attack random kids." I lifted my eyebrow. She was impressive.

Gazzy didn't let it go though. "Hold up. If the guy was knocked out, how'd you get all this information?" Angel held up a small leather booklet, and shook it in front of his face like fish bait. I laughed, and felt the uncomfortable feeling rise from our entire company. Then, a sudden realization brought me back to reality.

We weren't dealing with a couple of sloppy goons.


End file.
